The toothless woman who sold poems in the park.
I imagine them blue-faced & purple-lipped, clinging to the sharp edges of my imploding mind. I imagine them gasping for air bubbles & clawing at the walls, fingers going limp, feet twitching before they finally release & sink like stone to the mossy floor. In this screaming silence, I find peace. In the midst of the howling verse & raging chorus, I find my mind blank to the fury of the storm. I don't think about bleeding stitches or begging hearts. I don't think about drunken kisses with whiskey-fingers prying reality away. Flying down the freeway, deaf & saltwater-blind, I can claw out a cave in the midst of the chaos & crawl inside the emptiness. I can crank the volume up & let my guard down, relax my white-knuckle grip on sanity, my fierce attempt to hold it together. While cocooned in the sound, lost in the airwaves, I can stop pretending I'm whole, alright, fine. I can glance in the rear view mirror & let my chest collapse, let the truth release its binding hold on my lungs. I'm being thrown about by the wind & calling it flying.
I imagine them blue-faced & purple-lipped, clinging to the sharp edges of my imploding mind. I imagine them gasping for air bubbles & clawing at the walls, fingers going limp, feet twitching before they finally release & sink like stone to the mossy floor. In this screaming silence, I find peace. In the midst of the howling verse & raging chorus, I find my mind blank to the fury of the storm. I don't think about bleeding stitches or begging hearts. I don't think about drunken kisses with whiskey-fingers prying reality away. Flying down the freeway, deaf & saltwater-blind, I can claw out a cave in the midst of the chaos & crawl inside the emptiness. I can crank the volume up & let my guard down, relax my white-knuckle grip on sanity, my fierce attempt to hold it together. While cocooned in the sound, lost in the airwaves, I can stop pretending I'm whole, alright, fine. I can glance in the rear view mirror & let my chest collapse, let the truth release its binding hold on my lungs. I'm being thrown about by the wind & calling it flying.