this is my body
as god made me
in the image of man
human
hued like the dirt we all come from
complete
perfect
divine
skin bones dreams
interrupted intercepted impeded
pressed into the service of others
pressed like roughly ripened grapes
bitter yield
bound bled bondsman
oceans of loss
bottom of the ocean blues
bones on the ocean floor despair
smothered in breast
waiting to breathe another
sunshine in so there can
be tomorrows
languishing longing laboring
washed in sorrow
dreaming of chariots
following signs that do not
lead to the ocean
do not take you home
but lead you further into the wilderness
in the land of sorrow
no resting
only restless movement
seeking what was drowned in the ocean
faces screwed in concentration waiting
the ocean is silent
its voice the roar of the dead
who refused to eat sorrow
refused to seed tomorrows
refused to be yoked
rather walk the ocean floor
not as invisible as
unarticulated narratives of suffering
swelling necks
that find their own nooses
tie their own bloodknots
not as graceful as ocean dives
just as resolute
impossible to carry the weight of the tales untold
backed in to bowels
stinking on breath
whispering death from the mouths of the living
ghosts of men created in the image of man
envisioned by god
fashioned all knowing from dirt
which knows all
the stories buried in its completeness
I am human
there is a story
stolen suppressed sullied
bloodied bludgeoned
blues
inheritance of hopefulness
struggling
Sisyphus
strangling on the narratives
of rising falling falling
& merry go rounds
exited only for prison returns &
graveyard rituals
judgment absent peers
the blind dumbness of no justice
exploding in bellies
narrowing minds
loading guns
pulling triggers
informing fear
that builds more prisons
feeds more graveyards
babies thrown out with bathwater
burned out trying
stunned like deer’s in
the moment before the metal monster hits you
afraid angry anxious
heads cocked listening for the ocean
waves rising clouds on the horizon
I am human
repeated so i remember
i am human
i am human
i am
i will not be invisible
i am
i am
repeated
so i remember to remember
