Pulling Out the Splinter

Splinters are part of gardening, I've learned, especially because I tend not to wear gloves. My last splinter was so tiny that I couldn't extract it from my finger, even with my best tweezers.

But, ouch did I feel it! I was struck by how much the tiniest splinter can hurt, even though you can't see it. Which got me wondering about the emotional splinters in our being, and what wounds or protection grow around them. And that brought to mind this Salman Rushdie quote, which I've long pondered.

The image is of a collage I made about my exiles - those places in me that I've outcast - or wanted to outcast - and that I long to welcome to the table of my healing.

Pulling Out the Splinter

"You can't judge an internal injury by the size of the hole" - Salman Rushdie

The tip of your finger
holds a splinter so tiny,
one you can't see. But it
announces its presence
when you wash your hands
or pick up a pen. You put on
your glasses to extract it from
your fingertip. When you fail,
you wonder about the splinters
that live deep in the body,
slivered in emotional skin.
Invisible to the eye, you feel
the sharp sting when you bump
the tender sore that grew around
the wound. Be gentle, they say.
Not all wounds can be seen
on the surface of things.

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With a grateful heart, Karly