4/1/12
This month, poets all over are writing 30 poems in 30 days in honor of national poetry month. I am too. This is number 1/30. Not only do I have this blog to keep me honest, my aunt Linda accepted the 30/30 challenge. You can see her blog here: http://lindadelnegro.blogspot.com/ Every once in awhile, I'll write to the images my cousin Tony finds for her. Keepin' it in the family.
1/30
His words had weight. Each one
making it just past numbed lips
only to crash onto the formica top
of the table between us, gouged deep
by the scratching of countless pens.
We both stared at them sitting
there on the table; bold, harsh
they dared me to hold. Dared
him to believe in their existence.
"I'll have to hide my father's gun"
he said, words clattering like spent
shells at his feet, "it's too tempting."
My heart and silence broke like a fever,
I spoke without thinking.
I told him a story about birds;
how a single Canadian goose will fly down with
an injured comrade while the flock flies on
and wait until he recovers enough to continue.
As I spoke, the color returned to his face
like mercury rising.
The pressure of holding all those leaden
words for so long gave way.
He sighed like a steam engine into his elbows
scooped each word carefully into steady hands.
One, he lingered over, broke in half, handed
me the remains.
When he returns from the place one must go
with words like these, I will remove the half
from my pocket. I will light a fire,
and we will dance like only weightless people can,
like geese returning to the flock.
This is amazing - you have a gift.
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