mandala-tattoo-mandala-design-kreise-schulterShoulders, it is said
by men and women in white coats starched for effect
cannot freeze
nor can we die from heartbreak
until we do
mystery of life
so much further than test tube
scientific figure shifting in study
answers undiscovered
by pill poppers and devotees of
mechanical Gods
I told the doctor
look doc, my shoulder froze over like a lake
when my heart began to ache
it wasn’t the weight of a sofa pushed through a closed-door
inhabiting new space
I never was good at change
still my shoulder froze one summers day
now withered and mismatched I stand lopsided
few can really tell unless they look
closely
maybe that was the real intention
to stop skimming rocks over
smooth surfaces
but peer
deep
beneath
anyway doc …

have you got a script
to lend me a little
relief?
his eyes were the color
of my morning coffee and
regret filled them
I’m sorry young woman
you will have to wait
like all the plants and trees
birds and things
depending upon the sun
until it warms by gradual wind
for as much as you deny it
the frost has you by the throat
claiming your limber soul
it won’t relent if you take a warm bath or rub some salve
you will need to dig deeper
discover what pain holds
nailed by the shoulders
to the ice of regret
maybe by twisting, learning how to tear
yourself from your frame
you can alter your picture
shift strung decline
break out
do over
earn wings
gain altitude
escape
the capture of frozen shoulders
attempting to hold themselves still
against ricochet