Asymmetry
The next-to-smallest finger of my left hand, / embedding my ring in its bulging flesh, / a fat tree swallowing a chain-link fence
Left elbow broken at the age of three
and never quite corrected, bending rogue,
impeding push-ups, locking
participation ribbons. Left ankle, thick
from decades of sprains and fractures,
stiff and reluctant and no doubt
a site of arthritis to come. Left
eye, weak, taking in a blur through pop-bottle
glasses lens, its right-side partner compensating,
always overworked, doing its best but leaving
me clumsy and anxious. Left corner
of my mouth, scarred from a winter’s
collision with dense, untended branches