Jagged Edges
[missing Hayley]
They sting like tiny needles
Piercing soft, pale skin
They tear like thin pages
Turned too quickly
They are left to hang
Pieces of a whole that once was
They represent a parting, a gap between two halves
The bitter fringes prick you
And startle you at the touch
These edges are not smooth, but jagged
Not parted with care
Not mirror images of each other
No precision in their tear
They are seen as harmful, not to be touched
Yet they make us who we are
And show what not to be
If they find the other pieces
That fit into their crevassed tear
There is still a line between them
That traces the rip that once was there.
Lucy Burdge
Miss Porter’s School
2008