you drew in from the wrong side
huffing & puffing to collapse
my ribcage & the hollow tones
of the dulcimer ache reward
the elder was no help at all
bent on saddest resignation
that made fun of my efforts
like silence on a battlefield
your tantrums began
where she did trip
two decades earlier
cleaning the stain of tie-dye
from the clever books
she held insecurely
and now we're here
now we're there
handcuffed to the idea
that if I wanted you
I'd simply kidnap you
a story for beer & chips
no steps forward
no steps back
stuck inside a room
with underworked dream-catchers
with nothing to grasp at
but soft pants in the only union
we could command
underworked limbs
underworked tongues
brains that couldn't feed themselves
crucified pride introduced us to
the degrees of pity in love
but left us begging for alms
from strange tenants & twins
your single bed
your single notion
your single act
not planned
as eyes roll, reverse
in no distinction of life
fingerprints on a babe's backside
they all shudder to talk sense
but I rise in anger to accuse
and cry, 'murder!'
at the death & extension
of a child's soul
twenty-one years ago
today
