twig, plastic, wire
laboriously gathered
woven into a basket
with leaves as carpet
where sits the queen
for life to be ushered in.

raises fearful cry
if anyone is nearby
must thwart the enemy
with belligerent cacophony
circle over head to say
stay away.

takes not a minute
to uproot it
falls to the human might
in an unequal fight
between the highly placed
and not so blessed.

then like always
fills uneasiness
a dull ache in the chest
for a sin in haste

a shot of gun
that cannot be undone.

the sea shell spirals with complexity
ridges, holes, and scars
proclaim its years of inner ebony
it represents what we all are
once very much alive on the inside
but after having traveled so far
our first instinct is to hide
and now collected in glass jars
we are no longer full of sea and sand
weighed down and covered in tar
we've been stranded on the land

Cliffs of rocky words crumble into
landslides of incomplete sentences
I climb your ill frigid mountain
of self-righteous commitments
Gathering suppressed memories
I reach the summit of your greed
There the air is far too thin to breathe

The fear of your heights paralyzing
The cold of your winter realizing
I see my breath as the frostbite starts
Your avalanche of resentments fills my heart
Breaking my spirit, arresting my soul
'Til all that's left is you, the model I role

A footing unfit for vindication
A biography unfit for syndication
I froze in your tundra so many years ago
Until at last, like you I am the snow
I lost myself zeroes below...

this voice of mine was designed
to be written, not spoken
to be read, not heard

but we seem to live in a society where
to be seen, you have to be loud
and they say written words can't shout

and so I shall forever remain
invisible

but only to those
who keep their eyes closed