It takes 4 to 6 weeks
to completely shed your skin,
according to the scientists,
to make your largest organ renewed.
We never notice it
sloughing off
flake by flake
and yet, tomorrow when you glance
down at your hands
there may be something new
an age spot perhaps
or a callous you hadn't noticed before.
And yet our new skin
remembers
the favorite textures,
the difference between hot and cold,
the pleasures of touch.
Some things it remembers better than others,
some scars are there forever,
while colors of a loved tattoo begin to fade.
And each cycle of renewal brings
with it - age.
Thinning or thickening,
hanging, flapping,
wrinkled age.
