You don’t have to pick
at the scab.
You can direct your attention
elsewhere and let the
wound heal.
You do not need to draw blood
over and over to confirm
some earlier pain.
You do not have to suffer to
prove that you can endure it.
You do not have to choose
the uncomfortable familiar,
better not to learn to enjoy
the thrill of self-destruction.
You do not have to pick
at the scab.
You can direct your attention
elsewhere and let the
wound heal.
Dave Morrison’s poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer’s Almanac, Take Heart, and Poems from Here. Morrison has published seventeen books of poetry – Another Good Day Begins (Soul Finger Press 2022) is his most recent collection.
