header

Home
About the author
Book / Readings

The poems

© 2010-2013

for sale

You are as much about
Strength and survival
As any refugee, prisoner of war
You don’t need to go back, you know
To before
Before the dark circles ringed your eyes
Before the G-string and the cold house
Your father slumped in despair
At the kitchen table
While the bank foreclosed
Before the child, the needles
The bouncer who guarded you
On the way to the parking lot
Before whatever it took for you
To go out on the runway

You don’t need to go back
Go forward
You can be
Who you are inside, still
That little girl, tucked away
In the little room no one ever gets to
Before the ravages of circumstance
Took over your young life
I see you there
Neither before nor in between
But out ahead, in the clear future
Where your wounds will make you strong

Come out, come out, wherever you are