xviii

bear the weight of your blood
tensed through your teeth
the guttural omen, calling
screeching and howling
taut sinews until the snap
it’s not a lesson nor a ritual
it’s an expulsion of body
come gather the impurity of pain
let it nestle where it cannot reign
of all the silence we hid
the shifting of empty space like dusk shade
if we could tempt regret
it would call upon us numbly
faint voices finding deaf ears
kept the tongue from slipping down the throat
what if it was tangled?
holding onto anything worth speaking
such a chore to lie still
all you saw was idle hands
cherishing false memories and dead names
most of the time it’s all worth forgetting