Between the Braids

The waves of love are such

as you could find in the confines of the written word

They appear upon me like a river coursing through

First edges of a mountain lake

the water seeming to know math

Gravity in motion slipping furtive, innocent

like the first held hand in young love

They fought like something had come loose in the Evercore

that part of the self that is flexing, strong

unyielding in itself, truth self-evident and no longer

able be brushed aside with a half-lie or eye-laugh

standing effervescent in a dress of goldenseal

wanting recognition for expression itself

yet not caring about the need in the other

present insomuch as to create a checkmark

against a list of things done to the part of the heart

that metes no checkered flag and makes no offer

brooks no retreat, finds no end to the pain

Inside is thrust a poisoned knife, dirty from overuse

atrophied, fluorescent

the dirty edge dancing with virulent intent

dripping fledgling poison into pools thought innocent

rivulet of the soul

expressed through dying, drying edges at the creases of your eyes

unable to hold true to the promise yesterday made to the handmaiden

who came spiriting through the door, reaching for support

hands flung east and west likely pleading for an advance

on work not yet done, but on words uttered in love to an assumed friend

indeed, you thought you could trust air held in tires

but a road this long cannot be made without a few bumps

both natural and man-made, handed down from god through the hewn

hands of the man who placed his rarest treasure into your heart

these were the thoughts that trickled through his head

as he sat on the edge of the bed

caught between morning and a sad, soft pillow

a cushion between yesterday and tomorrow

When words are too soft to matter

and life is too hard to consider

remember that you are more than less

that your moment here

reading this

is what you’ve needed all along

That you are someone’s someone

That the universe created you

at the end of

a long string of beautiful clashes of

chaos, matter, and yes, love

Braided into the corners of your genetic material

are the blueprints and fingerprints of intelligence

so you know, deep down

maybe in your brain, or your heart

or your toes for all I know

is the knowledge that you are meant to be

here

now