time

 T  i  m  e

She screamed in drug induced internal hysteria as they cut out her youth 

open up and say ahhhhh.......

sealing her fate

 

here I am

imprint me body and soul with the toxins of guilt and failure

your child

Cold and beautiful

a reminder of who you are not, will never be.

 

                                                                      I will always take care of you.

 

 

 

T   i  m   e

A child’s fatal wound inflicted in steady pulse

The neighbor boys are here to    P        L        A         Y

(No! Don’t let them in!)

They

(No!)

call

(please, no)

for

shut down the hatches men, we’re takin’ on water!

y  o   u   (r) brother.

You    can    play        t o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

 

the suitcases under mommy’s bed remind me

t h a t      (you’re on your own, kiddo)

she’s on her own trip.  

                                             

cut in pieces

steel doors frag  men  ting... ting... ting

I squeeze into the only safe place I can find

hidden away in the linted pocket of a forgotten garment.

(quiet now, don’t tell anyone)

 

and

 

I 

 

am 

 

gone.

                                                                           I will always take care of you

 

 

 

T   i   m   e 

stands breathless.

My cries are ether in a distant galazy,

each,

resonating                s o m e w h e r e

deep

in

my

b e i n g

 

leaving skidmarks.

Proof I exist.

 

                                                             I will always ALWAYS! take care of you

 

 

 

T   i   m   e.

END IT!                                   END IT!                                            END IT!

echoes through my adolescent halls,  

pristine circuitry flooded with 

the           ambrosia            of                    worthlessness

Are you wasted again?!!

You’re just like your father!!                           (but I will always take care of you)

The razor slipped

and missed

again

and 

again.

I didn’t mean it, really.  I do want to stay.                                     (I’ll be good.)

              take care

                 of  you

 

 

T   i   m   e.

No memories to paste

a collage of pictures out of context.

Was I really gone that long?

Did I miss the best part of the show?

 

fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen, the weather’s clear for landing.....

 

Just a chunck of flesh bitten off a fresh wound

it’ll grow back.

 

And the prize we are bidding on Bob,

reliving the last minutes of agony 

gasping for air in that sunken hull...

 

(shut down the hatches men, we’re takin’ on water)

 

clawing at your insides.....scarring your tissue

want to see the damage?   

 

Come                        O o  o  o  o  n                          d  o   w   n !

 

 

Be careful where you step

be careful who you hurt

                               I     want        to            take         care         of           you

 

 

 

T   i   m   e

A twinkle 

of 

hope, 

life                                                   s   e   e   p    i    n    g

dust particles illuminated through my crack (up)

four tiny beings of                                                                     me

better than                                        me

 

I   will          soar          (wake up)        higher       and        higher       with

 

each

 

breath           ................................b  r  e  a  t  h  e

 

they                        ..........................we have a pulse

 

take.

 

Scrape off the toxins of guilt and failure

my (inner)child

Cold and beautiful

a reminder of who I am

 

 

 

                                                                       I can’t take care of you anymore

 

 

it’s

T  i  m  e

to come home

 

 

Reviews

[Jeff]

After listening and reading this a few times I have to ask, who is talking with who? I feel a bit dumb to ask but sometimes I read too into things. I feel it is a mother speaking and her internal consciousness is taking over every so often fighting back her feelings concerning her parenting.

I agree with having the sound bite. Your reading was 95% of the poem. The inflection and feeling toward each word clarified every line in that poem ever more. I love it.

Thanks!

Jeff

[Barry S. Maltese]

The confussion of pain moving too fast upon stolen innocence. The feeling of misenterpreted betrayal. Your words paint such a vivid picture of total darkness, and fear. I hope that if these feelings encapsulated the horrors of something that you have actually experienced, that you find comfort and hope once more. . . You write so beautifully