New leaf Pt. 2

i sticky-noted a memory in my brain years ago for today,

for the moment i decide to think seriously about holding my softest words in my two palms

and laying them side by side for someone new.

someone who has never told me

that my most intimate,

most open,

most new,

most aged, most weighted

form of communication was not

their thing.

their habit,

their preference...what have you.

i listened to a chisel powder my fluttery beating into dust at their command, and i fetched no hot water for the repair.

i wailed for hours.

i could have sworn it would take ages, centuries, to lift this pressure off my ribs

more time than i feasibly had to learn how to write of affection again.

but if you give a venusian a bouquet of yellows,

four tacos, and the most stunning company they've ever had,

a poem will fall out.

and so it did

and so it has now,

and I am again holding my softest words. both arms full,

blood surging towards my skin, letters in tow...

my most intimate,

most open,

most new

most aged, most weighted letters.

i am taking them to a building big enough for them live in the windows

i see a new leaf.

(Written September 16, 2021)

"i wailed for hours."