Poetry
Leaks and Tattoos
Elizabeth Kaye
I remember first spotting the dark side—
an expression, a presence,
unsettling in ways yet to name.
So I naïvely ignored it,
patching leaks of darkness
with bandages of light,
confusing in a room so bright,
so full of hope.
Each night I wished
the fissures would not widen,
would not break into a flood.
But the flood came—
immense, suffocating,
biting in unseen,
agonizing nibbles.
Truth was offered,
intended to heal, to illuminate,
yet it unleashed the shadow.
Perhaps one wound reopened,
or countless fractures
waiting to give way.
The question lingers.
Memories remain—
not erased, not painted over,
but etched as tattoos of resilience,
reminders of the art of repair
for body and mind alike.
Author: Elizabeth Kaye
Bio: Elizabeth Kaye is a medical student at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and a graduate of Harvard College. She has worked as a counselor in the Personality Disorder Unit at McLean Hospital, as an aide and companion for hospice and memory care patients, and as a volunteer facilitator of expressive arts with children. Outside of medicine, she finds creative restoration through poetry, mixed media art, and dancing.
Commentary: Leaks and Tattoos explores resilience, healing, and the ways experiences continue to shape us long after they have passed.