I was eight
when they tied you
to the fence and let
the buzzards hurt
the parts of you
they couldn't.
(that barbed wire
is a silence all
of us hold between
our aching teeth.
it is all
that holds us up.)
when I tell you
i am lost
it is not to the grimy corners
of an unswept closet
thick and choking
on old bathrobes and books.
it's a dry field in Autumn
and the look
of a scarecrow
bleeding out, waiting
for someone to
bicycle past
and stop
it-- Happens again
in a thousand ways:
the snap of straw
blonde hair rustled up
by tacky iron pulses.
Pistol-whipped,
the dirt of how
they will always
look at us, sideways
and swollen
your name is a station
map of the ways
I stay scar(r)ed
from handlebars
as when I wheeled around
my hometown,
and learned
to navigate the heart
of a hundred
close-doored houses
without training wheels.
waited for another decade
when your face would be my own.
Matthew
-
- Regular Member
- Posts:172
- Joined:March 25th, 2016, 1:13 pm
Re: Matthew
This is haunting. So sad and so well written. I'm feeling raw and a little bit scarred myself. Wow!
"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
Sarah Williams
I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
Sarah Williams
-
- Elite Member
- Posts:3145
- Joined:June 19th, 2012, 7:43 am
- Location:here and there
Re: Matthew
What I get out of this is social rejection...
someone, something (a relationship maybe), that didn't (doesn't ) conform to the norm??
interesting work!!
someone, something (a relationship maybe), that didn't (doesn't ) conform to the norm??
interesting work!!
- candlewitch
- Elite Member
- Posts:4739
- Joined:October 19th, 2012, 1:08 am
- Location:Wisconsin USA
- Contact:
Re: Matthew
hello,
...what they said, and this was wonderful... my favorite lines:
your name is a station
map of the ways
I stay scar(r)ed
from handlebars
as when I wheeled around
my hometown,
always, Cat
...what they said, and this was wonderful... my favorite lines:
your name is a station
map of the ways
I stay scar(r)ed
from handlebars
as when I wheeled around
my hometown,
always, Cat
- Chelle
- Webmaster
- Posts:2782
- Joined:April 15th, 2012, 12:09 am
- Location:Florida
- Contact:
Re: Matthew
I could be wrong but I was thinking about what they did to Matthew Shepherd since the anniversary of the hate crime was recent. May he rest in peace, poor soul.
Looking For a Few Good Staff:If you're thinking about being a moderator-please check this out and apply!
TPS Moderator Application
TPS Moderator Application
-
- Elite Member
- Posts:2159
- Joined:April 21st, 2012, 7:23 pm
- Location:New jersey