Day 17. Prompt: write a “what I meant to say” poem. I’ve got three.
Lost for words
I remember when I found
my voice just lying around
untouched
like it had always been there
even though I’d looked
a thousand times before
and daring, I picked it up
staring in awe
at the mother-of-pearl
and the swirls of jewels,
in sparkling pools
before I opened wide and
placed it inside where it fit
like it had always been there
even though I’d looked
a thousand times before
and it sounded like gold,
if gold had a sound,
I had found it again
and forgot all the pain
and cost of being lost
for words.
Stumped
There was a woman in Garp
who’d had her tongue cut out
so she couldn’t tell the truth
or name any names.
I think of her often over the years
when I run my tongue across my teeth
because when the time came
to name my names and tell the truth
I was just as stumped.
Connect the dots
It’s not that I don’t have the thoughts
And I know you need to hear them
They just come out as dot dot dots
It’s not that I don’t have the thoughts
My tongue gets tied in sailor’s knots
And my heartbeats speak in mayhem
It’s not that I don’t have the thoughts
And I know you need to hear them