how-do-you-say-goodbye-to-someone-you-cant-live-withoutYou cannot see
that my legs are missing
my arms are omitted
my heart does not beat
my eyes do not see
you may say
how dare you
when there are crippled
and broken and rusted and
crusted and burnt and damaged
people who really have
no limbs
no vision
no fingers to touch with
and still
I will show you
the circumstance of hurt
invisible
unmentionable
lest we are judged
left more alone as consequence
wounded warriors who have seen no war
do battle over and over
with scars that do not heal
eyes that cannot burn
more than a slow life time
flame flickering
on and out
persisting to burn
even though it is
extinguished