I once loved a man with an embarrassing tic.
Anytime he told a lie he would quickly whisper the truth.
It rolled out of his lips as a ribbon that wrapped around his neck.
I used to ignore it. It’d be rude to bring it to his attention.

But every lie made the ribbon a brighter, bolder red.
I once asked him, “What’s on your mind?’
“Nothing,” he said confidently. Cooly.
Under his breath the ribbon betrayed him. It whispered:

You always grit your teeth, babe. Relax your jaw, honey. You’ll bite right through your tongue. Let me be the one to bite it for you. Let me be the one who clenches their fist. Whose teeth grind to powder from worries unknown. How do you keep all that tension in such a small frame? I’m bigger, let me relieve you of your duties, baby.

The ribbon grew wider, his whispered words
Had swirled together to paint a scene.
His whispering was undoubtedly involuntary.
My eyes darted from the ribbon to his placid face.
He didn’t seem notice my horrified expression.

I hadn’t noticed until that very moment
How dull his eyes were.
How flat his features seemed.
I asked,“Tell the truth, what’s on our mind.”
“Nothing, babe! Why all the questions?”

Let me open up my chest. I’ll let you pour your sorrow, your energy, your pain inside of me. Let it trickle down my belly, past my navel, down my groin, roll down my legs where it’ll pool around my feet. Let me cradle that pain for you, sweetie. Fill me up with all the misfortune you have to offer, there’s space in my chest for the both of our suffering.

The ribbon was so red now.
So wide. It coiled around his neck tightly.
Yet his face gave nothing away.
He he still looked so calm. Unbothered.

Let me cry your tears for you baby. Let me wear your skin for you, darling. You skinned your arm when you were 9 and so did I now. You got lost in the woods that day, whelped skin stinging, face dirty, weeping wildly. Let me hold on to that awful memory for you! Let me bear the burden of existence for both of us! I’ll answer to both names, I’ll think both our thoughts! Let me be you for you! Just kick back, love! Let me bleed your blood, baby! Let me bleed you ou–

And then
suddenly
his ribbon
ran out.

Amy Le Ann Richardson

Category

Poem

6/18/20

Cockcrow Daze

I woke in the
purple-grey hue
of early morning to
a whippoorwill’s call
ringing out loudly
like it was right
beneath my
bedroom window.
I listened to the
solitary
whippoorwill
whippoorwill
whippoorwill
slicing through
the still air, and
I lay awake
long after
it stopped
absorbing
the quiet
radiating
from the rest
of the house
normally filled
with the children’s
roaring disagreements
or laughter, but it was
much too early
for them to stir.
I dozed back off
in the hazy light
pondering whether
or not it was all
merely a dream.

Debra Glenn

Category

Poem

6/18/20

deliberation does not

exhausted I can execute little
not sure where to go
from here or there
is a calm
obtainable
deliberation does not
become me
so I concede
and say goodnight