Ken Cathers

skin


this skin has started
to fray

reveals a torn elbow
a tattered knee

a body stitched up
too many times.

I tug at stray threads loose buttons
watch my days unravel.

this is a poor material
to work with
the weave all wrong

a coat grown thin
and faded
     a patchwork blanket.

I wait for the scars
to harden

a fresh skin to emerge
pink, beautiful

become new, grow
from the inside out
but I have slid

from silk to denim
become a worn fabric

that cannot be shed
there is a wound

that doesn’t close
a bruise that never heals

when the night is cold
I am a cheap cloth

that will not mend

Ken Cathers as a  B.A. from the University of Victoria and a M.A. from York University in Toronto.  He has just published his eighth book of poetry entitled Home Town with Impspired Press in England. He has also recently published two chapbooks, one entitled Kiefer by broke press and the other entitled Legoland Noir by Block Party Press. His work has appeared in publications from Canada, the United States, Australia, Ireland, England, India ,the Netherlands, Hong Kong  and Africa. Some of his recent work has appeared in Plato’s Cave, The McGuffin, Acta Victoriana,  Zoetic Press, The Carried Away, Wild Words and The Blue Unicorn. He lives on Vancouver Island with his family in a small colony of trees.