Sue Finch

Tender

I cannot yet kiss where it hurts.

Stitched to a pout 
it will make a beautiful scar —
a smile tucked away under your left breast.

But now it is knotted.
Red. 
Too tender.

Accept my tentative watch 
over its raw line.

I eye its inches end to end
looking for fade, for gentle blushing pink.
Willing away shades of swelling and heat.

They have sealed you up.
Four neat ties.
Four spider knots.

Accept my tentative love.
I am holding it tight.

Sue Finch grew up in Herne Bay. She now lives with her wife in North Wales and enjoys exploring the countryside and coast. Her first published poem appeared in A New Manchester Alphabet in 2015 whilst studying for her MA with Manchester Metropolitan University. Her work has also appeared in The Interpreter’s House, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Poetry Bus Magazine and in Crossings Over, an anthology published by Chester University Press. Twitter: @soopoftheday  Blog: http://soopoftheday-soo.blogspot.com/