From GHOST MATINEE
Dimpled
My left breast has now become
a parody of its full and unscathed sister.
Life-saving, my left breast insists
as I slip a silicone pad into my bra.
Until this deep dimpled scar
I had hated the smooth mound
on my right shoulder,
the result of a birthmark removed.
Now I ignore that childhood disfigurement.
It could have been worse,
I’m ashamed to have complained.
My scarred breast
makes many of life’s hardships
seem small,
makes me clutch each day
to my chest.
I refused reconstructive surgery,
no longer lament the little hollow bowl.
Let my body go on
in lopsidedness.
Let me compensate
for what is diminished.
The breast, even though a shadow
of itself, is still part of me,
areola and nipple intact.
This scar keeps me hitched
to gratitude
until daisies take root in my teeth.
My left breast has now become
a parody of its full and unscathed sister.
Life-saving, my left breast insists
as I slip a silicone pad into my bra.
Until this deep dimpled scar
I had hated the smooth mound
on my right shoulder,
the result of a birthmark removed.
Now I ignore that childhood disfigurement.
It could have been worse,
I’m ashamed to have complained.
My scarred breast
makes many of life’s hardships
seem small,
makes me clutch each day
to my chest.
I refused reconstructive surgery,
no longer lament the little hollow bowl.
Let my body go on
in lopsidedness.
Let me compensate
for what is diminished.
The breast, even though a shadow
of itself, is still part of me,
areola and nipple intact.
This scar keeps me hitched
to gratitude
until daisies take root in my teeth.
About the Author
Cathryn Shea's second full-length poetry collection, Ghost Matinee, is set to release with Unsolicited Press in March 2025. Her debut full-length book, Genealogy Lesson for the Laity, is also available from Unsolicited Press.
Cathryn's poetry has been widely featured in numerous publications and was nominated for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net. Her fourth chapbook, Backpack Full of Leaves, was published by Cyberwit.net in 2019, and her third, The Secrets Hidden in a Pear Tree, was released by dancing girl press the same year. She also published It's Raining Lullabies with dancing girl press in 2017.
Her earlier works include her first chapbook, Snap Bean (CC. Marimbo, 2014). Cathryn was a 2017 Best of the Net nominee and a merit finalist in the 2013 Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. In 2004, she received the Marjorie J. Wilson Award, judged by Charles Simic. Her poetry is featured in the anthology Open to Interpretation: Intimate Landscape (2012), and she has work in 2017 anthologies like Luminous Echoes (Into The Void) and The New English Verse (Cyberwit.net).
Connect with Cathryn on Twitter @cathy_shea.
Cathryn's poetry has been widely featured in numerous publications and was nominated for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net. Her fourth chapbook, Backpack Full of Leaves, was published by Cyberwit.net in 2019, and her third, The Secrets Hidden in a Pear Tree, was released by dancing girl press the same year. She also published It's Raining Lullabies with dancing girl press in 2017.
Her earlier works include her first chapbook, Snap Bean (CC. Marimbo, 2014). Cathryn was a 2017 Best of the Net nominee and a merit finalist in the 2013 Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition. In 2004, she received the Marjorie J. Wilson Award, judged by Charles Simic. Her poetry is featured in the anthology Open to Interpretation: Intimate Landscape (2012), and she has work in 2017 anthologies like Luminous Echoes (Into The Void) and The New English Verse (Cyberwit.net).
Connect with Cathryn on Twitter @cathy_shea.