03 December 2013

Bruise again

You touched my arm and it stayed
I wear it now, hidden springs
of black water flowing underneath
my icy river's crust of skin.

If I just wait here long enough
It will come to me.
The reason why I let this happen.

I step out and it creaks and sings
Under my weight. Black feet
body, ice. fear.

I would open my mouth to speak,
But you have taken my tongue.
My lips move and spasm,
But my breath is also in your pocket.

That which is my own stretched
Naked on that bridge between now
And then.  Wet and dry.  Dry and dead.
It is as foolish to clutch at ice
As it is to swim below.




2 comments:

  1. love it. it is concise and spoken well. one line i might consider is -'Black feet body, ice. fear.' if i get the idea correctly i might say: 'As blackened feet under a body of ice and fear.' but then again i might just leave it as it is too...

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  2. Yes! This poem itself hits like a blow that would leave its mark. Bravo!

    The opening line propelled the entire poem.

    Very nice use of line break in the last stanza. "Between now....... And then."

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