The most annoying part of a new scar forming
isn’t the space it takes from your body,
instead it’s the itch that accompanies
whatever experience created it.
There’s this sense
that you can scratch away the pain
and continue as you always have.
We tattoo constellations
over the course of a single life,
and our bodies choose these points of fire
to remind us not of what we can’t do
but to remind us of what we have already done.
Dotage and damage both create similar scars,
yet the difference between the two
sings only in the memories
our scratches uncover 
from the depths of our minds.
Remember your skin 
and remember that it reminds you to challenge it
with those prickling nerves 
bubbling beneath the surface.