I have to remind myself
that I am like a starfish

not just because
I am sensitive
to touch

but because
I can give a limb
as a defense
if I must

it might not grow back
symmetrically
like the echinoderms

(I might be called
a scar fish
instead of a starfish)

but I will regenerate

and show
that humans
though victims
at times
of tragedy and turmoil

have a history
an ocean-sized history
of healing