we've been like plastic bags
you and i:
swirled away by a breeze intent on mischief
and i've never been happier
for an excuse not to have to resist you.
to be so windblown in disarray
and lost,
to be amiss with you;
tangled in the topmost branch,
itching with too intense a scent
of pine;
of prized, wise old wood.
and with you i should have been wiser;
i would have remained whole,
if only i could have been wiser,
like i should.
we've been like forgotten fish bones
caught on tongues;
between teeth;
in throats.
so inconvenient, unfortunate
oh, how we've choked on bad timing
and soiled words,
and like fish bones needing to be purged
it was better at times to be just gone
and away from you.
away until the pain and shock subsided;
after the reprieve of good, clean breath.
you made it forgotten …
you made me okay with you
but now,
we're as two like magnets:
far too similar to come together
and far too alike to be apart;
too far along in love to turn around.
unwilling to begin from the start.
so i breathe you back to the dust
to what you're made of:
scotch sips;
clipper sails;
brass tack
and grandmother's furniture nails
to bring you back from what you're afraid of.
and i realize the risk that you'll reform
into not being what i adore at all:
that you'll become a stranger.
oh yes,
i know the danger well.
but i remember our Canadian summers
and how we've been like much needed rain.
taken up,
poured down,
frozen solid,
melted on the ground...
all of this
to make lovely things
alive again. |
Submission Name: to the dust
