I.
Heart laid raw and tender on the block 
Pinpoint precision vessels interlock
Traverse a trail with Robert Frost
Ask the butcher what it cost
To cut away the ugly parts
Failures and false starts 
The road we’re taking calls my bluff 
Will they drag me out when it gets rough?

II.

Like Emily D I will write 
my poems during my
breaks after we pass meds at night –
Amateur work life high
careening with cancer careers –
manifested into 
dark meaning myth – dancer appears –
taps unrested on cue –
I’ll play golden gongs for my friends –
Hear rhythm in my head –
Make my little songs – love pretends 
I exist without dread

III.

I’m just a mom who pays the bills
I wake up and takes my morning pills
I live as a modern day Sylvia Plath
I purchased a house with no bath
The gas oven clearly fits the task
I trouble family without my mask
I never was the best in math
I went to school just to ask
Am I wasting time as an empath?
Money goes down the drain
I drop out like a downed plane
I wonder what became of my purpose
If lack of doctorate makes me worthless 
How long until I go insane?

IV.

it was never perfect never done
paint dried out s l o w l y in hot sun
over time it’s more doldrummings
i carry it like e. e. cummings 
strings of this heart strumming
but now I pull it out of my p     t
                                              o     e
                                                 ck
laid raw and tender on the block it
asks me what I need this time
place coat over 
         puddle to block the grime
before I step in filth and   s
                                               i
                                                 n
                                                    k    with the crime