Scarring the roadways, crevices

split surfaces on television. My hand is

pulling bristles through rain-bred tangles

and the marks just beneath my wrist are following

me with their red, abrasive centers.

I brush past their swelling

meaning and cause, watching curls

come undone, loosen

their grip. I can’t arrange them

into a pleasing pattern like the scientist’s

seismic graphs waving

their colorful tresses, predicting aftershocks.

Adrienne Dyane Lewis is Co-Editor of the Paradidomi Review, a

new forum for Mid-Michigan creative writers. Her work has appeared

in Fusion, Controlled Burn, and the White Pine Review. A

professional grant writer, she lives in Saginaw with her husband

and son. Her first chapbook is forthcoming from Mayapple Press.