A Little Scar

Inside my elbow, where it bends, 

There is a little scar,

Now hidden by some veins and

Much less prominent, by far.

The day a monkey bit me,

Though some decades in my past,

Is tattooed upon my brain, the kind

Of mem’ry meant to last.

So I was quite surprised to note

The fading of a mark

Which is spot-lit in my mind

Where much of childhood has gone dark.

Though pain and trauma might not show

To others on our skin, 

We each retain those recollections

For all time, within.