Re-affirm

You wear those scars on your sleeve
Like a grunge Mardi Gras,
Like a shadow’s silhouette
Of the dreams that fell too fast

You wear that smile on your face
Like a tracing-paper fold,
Like a glaring yellow star
Smeared over the taunting cold

You wear that stamp on your tongue
Like the blankets that swathed your crib,
Like the faith you once affirmed
At the altar of an absent God

You wear those tears on your eyes
Like a starved river bed,
Like the cracked Saharan sand
Where your hopes and loves once bled.