every day

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Stone & Flesh

Do you ever look down
at your naked body
and wonder what
sort of animal it is?

Do you ever hesitate
before saying something
and wonder what
good it will even do?

Do you ever gaze
at a single blade of grass
and wonder why
it dances all alone?

I pray, God, boldness:
I shelter myself in
a citadel of apathy.
May I learn

to go to the limits
of every longing--
to know what
I really want

and to utter it
not loudly, but
a little eloquence
might help. So

meekly
I open my fists
and show you:
a few small stones

pieces of a
tongue-tied soul.
Someday I will
be prolific.

Do you ever imagine
lilies in your lungs
and wonder how
it would feel to breathe?

[photograph of me by the lovely heather on one of our recent excursions]
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