ask a poet what it's like to read verses write a poem
ask a writer what it's like to have an idea verses what it takes to put it down
ask a failure what it's like to fail themselves verses everyone they know
ask what the difference is

between a self proclaimed title and the one stitched on the label by those who think they know a person
between stuttering because you can't find the word and the purpose of your repetition
between regular anxiousness and feeling as if the world might end
between what it means to be heard verses someone who claims to listen

between how hard you fall after a success you don't deserve and
how hard you fall in love with people who don't put in the work
when a blank page is exciting verses exhausted
when sleep comes so easy the inside of your eyelids feel like a relief and when sleep is a slippery beast, refusing to settle down for anything and when sleep is a restful / restless blink, night and then morning so fast you forget that you're not still living in 2003, 2011, 2014 and

when the world has changed
and the word has changed
and 2018 still doesn't seem to make a difference

ask for a stream of consciousness
and then actually listen

like peeling back the skin of your chest to examine the damage
pulling out push pins from underneath nail beds, listen
like running outside in the misty morning unable to draw a breath in, listen
like finally pulling a breath in, pushing it out again, listen
like the taste of the air on a perfect evening, listen
like the way the moonlight kisses the ocean as waves rise to meet it