Hangnail

From some craggy 
place a hangnail 
snags on some 
long forgotten moment 
and the memory 
snaps with sting
enough to make 
me pull back 
and look closely 
grabbing a clipper 
I snip it
cleanly off closing
that chapter again 
how many times 
will these ghosts 
happen to haunt 
what must I
do to avoid 
touching its flame 
by now you’d
think I’d know 
that fire burns