eight years my face stolen
by knife and gouge the roman hand
   of nails gladius
i tongueless tasteless sightless shuttle food from one formless space to another
for ears my only sustenance:
   a mother and a daughter
   and their godly hope
   of a boy who bears his bondage more
   beautifully than i
so what i struggle an ugly penalty to the ground below Jerusalem
and no tender sunrays
glisten to brighten my labor
ever
over the countless nameless numberless days
so what i say unsaid
   just teeth and throat less eloquent than the man
   who writes my soul

now if the narrative looses me onto the hot loud world
let God throw me back to the hunch in this cell
let God make me half the shadow of that boy
let God put palm to leper’s cheek
and me like shrieking leopards speak
   in words beyond my mouth