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Broke Wife, Big City
Ode to the Mystery Bruise
By Aprill Brandon
Oh, Mystery Bruise
There you are, yet again
And there have you always been
For at least as long as I can remember
Which, granted, isn’t that long
Ever since my memory was obliterated by the incessant demands
Of tiny, adorable humans
They who sprung loudly from my loins
Ginger haired and exhausting
My mind now filled to capacity
Each and every day
With tasks both mundane and material
That are involved when raising juveniles not quite yet delinquent
Big. Purple. With a hint of bluish tint
Ringed by an unholy yellow
You loudly announce your presence, oh, Mystery Bruise
With every disrobement
With every bathroom trip
There was a time when my thigh was flawless
(Stubble notwithstanding)
Oh, twas a sight, ye youthful femur o’ mine
Alas, now the top of that ham
Is the heart and hearth of your home
Oh, Mystery Bruise
Whenceforth you came? Why do you stay?
I have heard tale of your existence in others
On the side of the hip
Or the shinny shin shin
Enfolding the feminine forces in this world
Who already fight all kinds of unseen battles
Every day, and every sleepless night, and every in-between
Yet your mystery grows, Mystery Bruise
Your origin a puzzle wrapped in an enigma
Smothered in a conundrum and sprinkled with mild violence
Did it happen when a toddler used my body as a trampoline?
Or when a preschooler made of all points
Used me as their amusement park?
Are you the result of that stupid end table
I keep running into?
Or perhaps from that time I bumped into the steps while running to stop the children from hitting each other
With actual weapons?
Is it all the bile rising up to the surface from all the curse words I swallowed?
Or from all the screams I buried down deep
Each and every time they howled how they hated me
Because the grilled cheese had the wrong cheese?
(As if any cheese any time any place could ever be wrong)
Is it the homeless ink from every lost chapter I never wrote
Because as soon as they see the laptop they lay across me like pampered cats?
Or mayhap you are just a reminder that I am human, Mystery Bruise
And not just a mother
That I am not merely put on this Earth for their every whim and desire
The point is, oh, most mystifying of contusions
You’ve always been there for me
Rarely changing
Just staring up at me every time I shower
A constant and only slightly concerning presence in a chaos-filled world
A reminder of some permanence in an ever shifting reality
Or maybe you are simply a visible representation
Of the bruises concealed in my heart
Your mottled surface itself an ode to the mysteries of the soul
An ever-present monument of why we love and fight so hard
No matter the reason, nor the cause
I want to thank you, oh Mystery Bruise
For always being there
Which I believe I already mentioned
But you’ll have to forgive me, for it has been a rough week
Of Remote Schooling
Of Life
Of 2020
And of simply being stretched too thin
Which is why I am hiding in the bathtub with my computer
A little (lot) drunk and singing your praises
Because you are here and yet need nothing from me
Oh, Mystery Bruise, your silence speaks volumes
Can’t get enough of Aprill? Can’t wait until next week?
Check out her website at http://aprillbrandon.com/
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