By It's Cover...

We are taught from a peculiarly young age

Not to judge a book by its cover.

A lesson that is often forgotten almost

Before it is taught.

We all wear masks.

Shakespeare had it right.

But as a wise man once told me,

"There's a reason we call it a play."

The leather my volumes were bound in

Used to inspire terror.

I displayed the kind of vicious visage

That elderly, saintly matrons

Would cross the street to avoid

My identity is upon a shelf now.

Pants once black,

Ripped and torn,

Patches for 1000 holes,

and 1000 more un-patched.

Caked with dust and memories.

Washed in the musty waters

Of flooded skatepark bowls

And tepid stagnant lakes.

Rain puddles 

and the fountains at Saaf'end Boardwalk.

The salt of oceans,

Atlantic and Pacific

Soaked into my second skin.

But for all this cleansing

The miasma of

Blood, vomit, piss,

From the nights we can't remember

But will never forget.

And adrenaline fueled sweat,

Musty yet still as sharp

As the memories that created it,

Still remains.

Beneath the jeans lies a black leather jacket,

As bristling with tin can spines

As my heart was once with rebellion.

The right arm stained red

Emblazoned with "All Cops Are B******s,"

Oh, the fearsome and mighty ultimatums of youth!

Is now but tatters

Peeling away is seclusion.

The left shoulder still showing deep tears

Where can-tab-chain-mail once rested.

A labor of love,

Ripped away from me

In a maelstrom of human flesh.

I sometimes resent my old jacket

For mimicking my heart.

For each tear in it

Is my own.

But now they gather dust.

I am a family couch,

Familiar yet new.

Reupholstered.

A book renewed.

My cover heartily sewn in plaid and denim.

A beaten slip-cover,

Stained--resewn.

A shield against the wind and weather.

It's amazing how easily someone

Will pick up an old book,

With a different cover,

When the pages are still the same...

- Torrin A. Greathouse 

Reviews

[Firefly]

This was utterly excellent, you have a wonderful flow with your words, they feel so fluid and natural. Well done, really.