poem

 Silence

I’ve done enough blasphemy 

Cursed the christ

Pissed in the holy waters 

It didn’t get me anywhere 

I’m ready to give it another chance

But I won't sing any dumb hymns

Or kneel upon the hassock

My knees hurt

And I won’t wear a tie 

Or show up at Easter 

With all the Lexus phonies 

I won’t give strangers 

Stuck behind me in line

At the DMV my testimony.

In lieu of obedience

I will give you a silence

Easily mistaken for reverence 

I will be as quiet 

As answers to prayers 

I won’t say a word

I’ll cover my coughs

And sleep like a corpse.

What I can offer 

Is only a collection of words

I’ve been saving up, one by one,

Figuring out the puzzle 

Of how they fit together 

With each passed year 

Of roughly acquired wisdom.

Is this enough?

It will have to be enough 

This silence which is really 

A poem trapped inside 

Me that cannot be said aloud,

That cannot get out 

Without shattering everything else.

It will have to be enough—

One dumb poem 

That only god knows is true

6/30/24