Sierra Corium

Hovering on the cusp of adolescence

In the awkward colt years

Before agile grace replaces

Uncoordinated limbs and simmering hormones

Three tiny mountains

Arose from my palm

Presiding over the valleys of my fingers

I would pick at the warts commuting my grasp

Rough skin that kept me from holding hands

But could never keep me from petting horses

Alien receptive fields

Altering sensation

What meaning would astrologers ascribe

To this aberrant topography?

An ordeal to remove

With intense pain and tears

Palm cratered, mined

Voluntary abrasion with my consent

Childhood sacrifice

Now my palms are smooth from stories

Garlic I crushed

Ropes I climbed

Pottery I molded

Let all lines deepen in the sunshine

Soaking in with gleeful joy