Wiped Clean

I clearly remember applying for TSA Pre-Check, and the problem my faded fingerprints posed. The frustrated agent finally sent in the partial prints she had painstakingly obtained. Apparently, that was sufficient.

Wiped Clean

"Wash your hands!" tagged me

like words stitched to my shadow:

admonishments from my mother

postings in public restrooms

moralizing in med school

and now caveats about Coronavirus.

So I lathered and rinsed, soaped

and soaked. And my fingerprints slowly

sloughed off. Of dubious import to me

but not so for the Feds. A problem

for Pre-Check. A glitch in their game

plan.

After a delay, my partial prints okayed. But

in this conscious raising time white-bread me

wonders if I had darker skin would I be

at the back of the line again?

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor