Samantha’s Daily Poem
I want to be leashed to your wandering
Curiosity
wrap your roots
around my chest
crane my neck
with your distraction
I want to be leashed
to your wandering
surrendered to your tangents
be my constant companion
like breath
I want to merge
into your
childlike restlessness
a world where indifference
is absurd.
Unbroken
He was a big man
and even in the end
when he was sick
thin and dry
like a birch tree
his long body
a series of lumps
under a thin hospital sheet
his voice boomed
unchanged
unbroken
a deep happy tuba
wishing me and my baby
a good life.
A big bag
I misplaced a big bag
I’m sure they gave me one
when he arrived
the kind that holds
aches and coughs
and knee scabs.
For a moment
I thought I might be expected
to let him hold onto
these ailments
these inconveniences
these rituals of sorrow.
But I’m much happier
to carry them
if it’s all right
in that bag
if I could only find it
it is so big
you can’t miss it
it could fit
a life.
The privilege of your flesh
Years ago
you gave me
implicit permission
to kiss you.
Back of your neck
lower lip
your earlobe
when we’re both sick.
I no longer need to ask
but I also no longer
thank you
for the privilege
of your flesh.
It’s an oversight
for my gratitude
is as deep
and fresh
as the last kiss
I stole.
The temptation to please
Charisma
drop off me
like an overcoat
leave me bare
take humility with you
and wit and grace
just for a moment
let me peel back
the temptation to please
and stand boldly
in the sublime discomfort
of self.
