My steering wheel alone
Knows what I am dying to shout
The whisper I settle for
At least someone has said it
At least its true
At least I know
You and I and my steering wheel
The only confidant
Sure to keep my confidence
In this tangle of mutual friends.
There is a space
in my lap
my beagle-boo
just for you
There is a space
on my floor
for you to lie
once more
There is space
in my room
for beagle-feet
to zoooom
There is space
in this place
in my home
just for you
my beagle-boo
I had forgotten how invested I used to be
In those late night
IM dramas
Climactic almost-confessions
Disparaging conditionalities
The nightly flirtation of adolescent
Might-have-beens
‘N3t slang su11ying my reput4tion
4 syntactical prowess
Longstreet to Lee
Gravity demands conflicting armies
Crash in a burst of sanguine sacrifice
A fleshly offering too expensive
To be divinely endorsed
Conscience pleads conservation
While honor commands we duel to the death
Valorious though you are, Sir
Preservation mandates defense!
Lee to Longstreet
The enemy is here
Confronting us
NOW
The enemy is here and now we must strike!
There are no more reinforcements coming!
There is no excuse for our flight!
We fight here
Now
With these men
In these skins
We fight
HERE.
Numbers
Flaunt their superiority
Teasing my words
My words
But I’ll share
Sweet-talk me
With numbers
And fluent methodology
And my words
Will swoon
This line fits just the right words to say
If you could only say them
Fits repentance
Fits absolution
Fits worry
Fits blame
Fits sacrosanct idealism
Fits relative truth
This line fits just the right words to say
If I could only say them
You, as I,
Must understand the logic
Behind this over-drawn exchange
Over-drawn and catalytic
Shape-shifting as sharply as
We stumble onwards
You, as I,
Must see
The irony –
Just the voice
And nothing else.
Not face
Not words
Just the voice
And nothing else.
You, as I,
Must see
The irony.
Flush
The searing rush
A flash of brilliance
Fleeing focus
Flush
Not a blush
But a creeping
Loss of innocence
Yes, the brink
If I push you
This time
You will fall off
But when was I pushy
And when did I shove?
So the brink
Yes, the brink
Looms there
Lurks there
Taunts there
Teases
Caresses
Waits for me
Waits for me to push
Waits for you to fall
The brink
Yes, the brink
Waits
Recurring
Always
Recurring
Because the
Prompt
Is always there
Redundant
And obtuse
And I can’t
Make it
Leave
