Probing each layer I peel my sins,
disrobing as if it were my body.
Remove timeworn transgressions,
fold them neatly in special bins.

Stripped to innocent newness,
awkward within my skin,
I dress in faultless clothing
to acquire fresh and novel sins.

My mother was gone
by the age I am.
Messages
she might have shared
are nowhere found.
There's no lead
to follow,
no clues to see.

She didn't go here,
it's all new to me.
I write my life
by first-hand view,
no warning words,
no clear-cut signs,
an unmarked path.
Still, I want to ask.

Young unblinking eyes
brand me a stranger
in that Frankfurt square
where shawled women
walk with unwrapped bread
and fabric bags of produce.
Outside a temporary rental,
my landlord bends to clip the grass
with scissors used to trim his beard.
The same tool splits domestic hare
into Sunday night's entree.
Germans have shears
and a war bunker up the street;
the Swiss have army knives.

Stillness wakes me
in that part of night
where souls take flight.
Red lights break through
its blackness,
marking minutes
hour by hour,
like special luminaria
reflect that path
I began so long ago.

My soundless breath
and heart
rest
deep
within my breast.
Four o'clock of morning,
that easy hour of death,
slips past.
Red
renews its count.

Sue Turner writes that her "left brain turned right" in 1996, and writing and watercoloring replaced gainful employment for her.

Her writing has resulted in the publication of a series of "chapbooks," including such titles as Tumblewords and Sage, Truth and Other Fiction, Where the Sand Blows, 2000 Mythsteries and other Pithy Shorts.

Her watercolors have appeared on a line of greeting cards, calendars, and canvas tote bags.

Her publication credits include The Saturday Evening Post, Capper's Magazine, Poetic Voices, and other print and web media.

You can learn more about Sue's watercolors and words at her web page, suitably entitled Words and Watercolor

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