saying hello is even harder now
than saying goodbye was so long ago
can anything new be drawn
from the deep well
where I had stuffed all the mess
will everything look the same
as my hazy memory allows
or will it be like when I drove past
my childhood home
and felt no connection
no memory drawing me closer
to the familiar facade from yellowed pictures
can’t let go of skin
just let go
hearing that chanted
from the ivory tower dwellers
irked me to no end
no end in sight
for either I fell into struggles
or created them
how do I let go of my skin
the words sunk in so long ago
they only seemed to fade
with the bruises
but they’re all still there
in one mangled heap
unclaimed but not forgotten
when I let go, it will end
but I have more to say first
a new tether
at the end of a tether at the end of the week
there’s no backing off from our need
so much to write
not enough to say
stumbling and tripping
over useless thoughts
nobody will stand in our way
in the face of such depravity
most will choose to look away
these flimsy ties to what’s real
are remarkably strong
but demand abandoning hope
casting away dreams like demons
you get pushed, so push back
there are no safe words or rules that apply
moving, not stopping is the only way
to keep from being stuck in one place
thoughts will swirl
around wounds that fester
healing kept at bay
by picking at scabs
raising scars
that most will never know are there
but we greet the world
with these gaping wounds
needlessly trying to fill them
with something besides ourselves
when our whole being
can only be whole
if we be ourselves
jump off that rope
climb a new tether
find something new within
stories on skin
so dark
was it morning or night
tangled up in sheets
it suddenly didn’t matter
he pressed forward
she was swallowed in warmth
their best work was done here
in the murky time
the pitchest black dawn
imprinting their stories
on skin
plot twists
and rhymes
spelled out with such flourish
new chapters and verses
discovered
with each brush of skin
slipping through the covers
in and out of sleep
good night, good morning
Line Reading
do you have a moment
or two
to read some lines with me
I want to hear
what the poet meant
when he said
“Oh, how I crave thee”
and if it’s not asking
far too much
could we read
some more
I’d love to hear
“how I need thee”
and maybe a bit more
The Word Rummager 