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Annie by Christopher Clements

"Annie" copyright by Christopher Clements

What Saves

A poem by Pam Wynn

If you fall
spiraling
downward
no parachute no net

land in brambles, on a craggy
mountain ledge, a sea of broken
shells on the beach

even in snow
or a poppy field
from this height

it hurts, those bruises and welts
the cuts with bandages
sticking to your fish-mouth wounds

my brother fell, ripping
a calf muscle, he barely winced
he's a disciplined man

I cry
at the soft touch of damp
morning dew on my feet

friends chastise
-picking at scabs
keeps the wounds angry and red

so write
grace abounds
in each stroke of the pen

write and rewrite the story
of how you came to be here
not there

your hands otherwise
employed soon
the wounds will heal

Copyright Pam Wynn

Pam Wynn

Pam writes:
The concept of transformation and how humans pull out of pain has had a hold on me for the last few months. When I began "What Saves," however, I was thinking more about the fall into pain rather than transformation. On its own, the poem eventually turned towards healing. I was particularly surprised when I realized the first line and the last line were one complete sentence and essentially summed up my own belief in the ability of humans to heal.

Pam Wynn, author of Diamonds on the Back of a Snake, was significantly shaped by her childhood in the Piedmont and Atlantic Coastal regions of North Carolina. Her poems have appeared in a variety of regional and national publications. She has received support for her work from the Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, and New York Mills Arts & Cultural Center. Pam is a member of the Laurel Poetry Collective, www.laurelpoetry.com.

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