i have been
born twice-
once in cold sanitation
and again in a feverish sweat,
both times my mother's
only concern being to
push me out
at 11:47 on thursday the 12th
an oldish man in a whitish coat
laughed from behind a surgical mask,
his eyes glazed
in self-diagnosed deliverance.
but despite my thirteen
steps of nervous procession,
i still collide with every crack
on every porcelain sidewalk -
my mother's spine collapsing
like a new york building,
the dust billowing out
and making my eyes water
no, not crying...
how could this body leak saltwater
when my feet have never been planted
in something as transient as sand
and my fingers have never been caressed
by the million residents of the tide?
this is what i have known:
my father's arms
when they cradled
his fragile bloodline,
his voice softened by safety
and not compassion.
i have grabbed the wobbly
white bars of a plastic cage,
my only escape being to stare at
the planes circling overhead.
occassionally one of them
would manage to break off
and begin to plummet,
the passengers rejoicing
and singing songs to each other
and crying
big free
saltwatery tears
of happiness
Author notes
part 1 of 2.
A contest entry
- Favorites (Invite Only) by Lj-.
600 points, ended August 29, 2008, 24 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
-
wow. this is your best poem.
-
-
while i do really like this one, there are a couple i like more. i don't think i've posted them though.
-
-
why haven't you
-
-
nobody would understand them but me and maybe 1 or 2 others
-
-
-
-
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Particularly:
"his eyes glazed
in self-diagnosed deliverance"
Thank you for your entry,
Best of luck!
-
this is so fucking gorgeous, all time favorite
-
big free tears :-)
-
this was a beautiful journey
-
one of your best i think
post the sequel
-
-
i can't write it until there has been some conclusion to all of these things going on
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 10 of 10
