Ugly Reminder

I was in a serious head-on collision May 9th, 2007. I broke both of my legs through the skin (left femur, right tibia/fibula), my right arm, five ribs, and collapsed both of my lungs. I have huge scars on my legs that won't go away and a scar that passes from the inside of my bottom lip all the way down my chin. While in rehab, I wrote this poem to express the pain I felt when I first looked at the old pictures of me without my scar

At a distance, ugly
But don't be a fool
Under scope, still malicious
Covered up, yet unhidden
Distracting eyes from the eyes
Carefully costumed to brighten
In hopes of appeal
Let's talk of something else
Let's look at something else
Notice personality
Don't stare at the ugly
The pink, jaggedness of the line
It rips down through the lip
Punishment in the form of a large lump
Left behind as it traces down the chin
Smile crooked now
Pictures are a pasttime
There is no "good side"
This ugly scar
I have no face, just this line
Unappealing, no desire or fire
An itch to stare
This ugly scar
Haunting