I feel vulnerable
my chest a cracked egg leaking yolk
so I tell noone
the new shoes I purchased with some guilt
sit hard & unyielding, a spiteful metaphor
in their shiny box, with uncreased, perfumed paper
an absurdity I realize
thinking of those who have no food, no housing
breathing in the sorrow of poverty like a virus
in that moment life feels like a game of chess
the players without hands to move carved pieces
watching as fate, or happenchance, or some machination
creates electric storms and hail overhead
leaving morning as clear as a child’s complexion
I hear the sonorous voice of my mother laughing
a stranger, the hand of someone I have never met, lies in mine
pinched violets, murmuring over a bad phone line
I am afraid, I am afraid, I am afraid
without succor this life can feel like a weeping blister
emptiness holding her skirts as rain falls thickly
friends become enemies, enemies become friends
I don’t let it out very often, that vulnerability
it chokes in my throat, a feathered serpent
where all real things lie, unspoken, cuckolded
by the scold of people pretending strength
and a vein of cruelty as silver as my hair
when you stroked it before you died, before morning
rose brilliant and blemished with Spring’s luster
I put away the shoes, they never fit, my feet are broken
their lacquered ox-blood tongues befit someone lighter
for me, it is better to walk barefooted, dirty soled
even as the ground swells with tears and soon
it will be too hot to touch, so we must
fly, tight against electric derecho.
Were are they gone
the Fates of olden myth
agents of a rough justice
but myth they were
where uncaring chance
rolls the dice of life
and supply and demand
place the wagers
and human hearts
break or are distracted
with lamentable ease
and against those winds
may we be fools enough
to love and run
to flock together
and fly on tattered wings
I love the delicate and rich words you used threading this emotive piece. Wonderful work. π
Thank you dearest Bob for always extending the beauty of a thought into a thousand pieces of imagination, I am constantly inspired by your translations xoxo
Thank you so very much my talented friend π
Beautifully written and thought provoking.
Thank you dearly lovely Ophelia π really grateful π