When I was little,
I use to refer to him as
the monster.
A brow raised to a soul
in words inscribed upon
crumpled up ears
With vows made
but forgotten in a jacket pocket.

I stumbled upon my own sentence
on a rainy night
when it fell out of my chest.
As women shush their children
and men turn their backs,
I trail off to the crash of lyrics
on the railroad tracks
And the flight of the piano
that doesn't bring back mistakes.

Nothing more needed
but the shiver felt throughout
As my heels hit the cracks.
I return to that smoke scared voice
that plays with my heart.

A shiver upon my spine
One more time,
Tom Waits.