Sliding another coffin nail out of sky-blue cardboard,
lending yet another piece of myself to a stranger.
If giving a gift is giving part of yourself
you can find me in the lungs of street
performers in Rome who rise with electric light
and sing until the sun sends them to bed again.
You can find me in the deep breathing lungs
and steadfast hearts of all the friends who
take me with them as they dance into the night.
You can find me in the local economy of Woodruff
Park where the homeless trade cigarettes
for apples or shoes or rusted quarters
If you were to cut me open I wonder how many
pieces of how many people would spill out?
Momentary kindness builds the foundations
of my soul and everyday I add another brick to the wall
That’ll be mi grandad!
Tough as a coffin nail.
But he could have a good laugh in his rocking chair when the wrestling was on.
That’ll be me grandad from mi fathers side that noz! Got shot in the trenches and died not long since he got home.
That’ll be mi mother. She could care you know. Saw something that she didn’t like. I couldn’t fight so I let her go.
That’ll be mi father. A. Broken mind in a broken soul. A warm heart and someone who struggled with his feelings but he loved me sos you know.
That’ll be mi grandma. Loved her most of all. She was always warm and gentle to me at least I’ll let you know.
That’ll be me. I contain all of them you know. They all had flaws just so you know. Now I carry them in here with my own, a special recipe has grown.
I sometimes feel these feelings that I know I do not own.
She presses into the noise
like a tabacco leaf
pressing into the shape
of a coffin nail.
The smoky haze that fills
this darkened place
does little to camouflage
the weariness of life.
Old-time music beats
a familiar rhythm,
and once again she dances
with strangers who fail
to give her silence.
Like putrid vomit, the truth seething through,
Chunks sticking to me like hot glue,
And the entrails of memories continue to stew.
So frustrated, mental don't know what to do.
But some secrets are not mine to tell.
Keep following me I'll lead you straight to hell.
Through space, time, and dimensions,
I follow the trail.
Bloodcurdling screams make your face pale.
Icy fingers reaching from hell,
draining blood from every cell.
"I tried to catch her, it was then she fell!"
His words of confession, all lies as well.
Sickening smile expanding as drool fell.
Lost in the memory of her sweet smell,
his putrid odor mingling as well.
And her screams echoing
with the sound of the hammer fell,
After each coffin nail.
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