6610155a671a863124b18faa259d9037Born inheriting jaundice
from an incubator world
nobody wanted to hold
the baby with malform
forehead elongated, she held on
wishing not to be born
till calipers force the point
leaving behind viking indent
brand scaring watery soul
who dreamed still of utero
without air banishment
moonshine, her first sup
on the mustard kick of luckless child
unwanted by chain-smoking teens
seeking succor in bricked up people
climbing invisible ladders to some faraway mount
not of tablet and command
more a belief if we earn enough
we can pay away our sin
she was a ward of one
listening to water rise in radiators, surge and grow cold
before her first birthday she learned
life is a scolding pecking bird
retreat inward like sleeping charm
wait out first 18 winters
till freed of snow you take flight
cutting yourself out of smite
the unwanted will inherit their cast
dyed in river beds to wash never indigo
the hue of their regret
O to be counted
surely one more drag, one more wrought night
lying back on pillows watching stars trip beyond
their pinpointed direction never clarified
do they seek their diminishment or
have they already died?
showing their skirt tails like faint ghosts
for weary-eyed consumer of bottled night
blinking as neon sign beneath liquor store
stays on throughout retching dark
luring empty hearts toward comforting glow
we drink because we need to feel full
starve ourselves to let bidden pain flow
cut out the parts that remind us how
we came in and left without touching earth
those children of no consequence
developing thick soles and empty shadows
no wonder then we stay fissure thin
in diminished light of birth
reflecting our make
as weary moon, closes her eyes
flits behind rolling cloud
blocking out acknowledgement
like a candle can be snuffed
between a pinch and rub
you are no more than you were
the crust of you, harder to break
underneath there is a word
waiting in turn to ask
why?
must we inherit for our legacy
indifferent design?