141)

There is something about the sting of purity,
like how the cleaner stings the cut
or like when Mom wipes the cotton
across a scraped knee,
and it burns . . .
or like, when they wiped the cut
I got the first time I had to get stitches –
and I remember, even when I was younger
about how someone told me
sometimes,
it has to hurt, they said
if it’s to heal.