Naked Fingers

Used to the burden of heavy weight,
it is a strange time to have naked fingers and an empty hand

Time now to sort through the deck of
anger and bitter disappointment
Never allowed the luxury before

Plunging ahead,
always building dignity and identity with blood embedded nails
A shaky house of cards
An old way of life

Now, silence is not fear but necessity
A matter of balance
Had so many heavier things on the one side,
but now swinging freely
No need to bluff

Wanting to pile bones and tip the scale again;
wanting to walk hand-in-hand with familiar ghosts;
needing to be burdened

There is no guide to deal with uneasy equilibrium
Naked fingers sort and deal,
shuffling the new deck