TheCourtRose

There's a blue rag doll on the shelf near the door Her hair is matted and her one button eye hangs loosely She is unhappy, and lonely I avoid her gaze when I walk by, though she travels my spine nonetheless There's a rope on the shelf, too a Hangman's necklace for hidden, unspoken fears There are ribboned notebooks, velvet boxes , jars of warm whispers and bundles of feathers It is not all dark corners and sad nuances There are joyful things, things full of life, things worth living for They are all on the shelf because no matter how different, each is much too big to hold in my arms every day

Tattooed skin rises to the surface Fallowed, pale hills, humps on the horizon Face turned to the tile, ridged backbone scraping ceramic Calming the beast in warmed waves, choking the panic of a thousand voices that swell the ocean tide The moon has no power here, except in a maddening heart Erratic tides that ebb and flow in a panicked push Again and again, swamping the skin Calm the monster in the water Let her scrape the bottom, plumb the depths, reveal all hidden in the night and beneath the scabbing scales Chink the armor, watch her turn in the wake, face half in, half out the water A large, blue-green eye, watching you, watching herself, waiting for the tide to ebb