The palimpsest holds memories
Of how the smile shifted and vanished
As the thumb dipped in rose attar
And anointed the forehead
With a saltire – the unforgettable sign,
Townsfolk said, waking the bedridden,
Parched tongue quickened
To saltiness of blooming life.
The artist’s sketch was retouched
Twenty times over five decades
And it couldn’t be clearer
No one could accurately remember.
“Man with the Cure” was printed in Ditch'em, No. 7 of Inwood Indiana. Pick up the paperback from Prolific Press; the stories and poems published online are free to read here.
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