Shake Me

For each word that never made it past my teeth -harsh critics- I am sorry I told you I loved you last night in bed and all you heard was my breathing -waves on your shore- I am sorry For each step I should have taken that was frozen in my legs -stone pillars- I am sorry I ran to the edge of the earth for you where I heard the lilies were blooming -empty vase- I am sorry For each song that suffocated in my hollows -white noise- I am sorry I scored you a serenade for clarinet and bassoon and your shutters heard nothing -white noise- I am sorry For each quiver of my hands that has held me chained to the anvils of fear For the confidence I lack and the love I have not given -myself- I am sorry For times I held truth by the throat underwater and prayed you wouldn't notice the splashing For those days I went sleep walking -through prayers- I am sorry For the stability I cradle while sitting on dreams singing songs we all know the words to the song we've each written verses to 12 bars on each wall of this blue cage that we sing through For the times we don't fight For the times that we mean to For the injustices that steal the peace from our silent nights For the riotless streets For thriving inequalities For microphones and stages still wet with my ego For the silence I keep -when the world is listening- I am sorry Shake me from these paralytic dreams from the cloud of ideas and fantasy -what is art but a landing?- Shake me make me rise up and face the music climb out of myself and breathe -what is prayer but respiration?- Shake me until my apologies are gone and your house is full of flowers and your ears are full of songs and your heart is filled with this love of mine your quivering hands shook free Shake me until I see beauty in truth and truth in what we are made to be

Request permission to use this poem

Explore

Hello PoetryVoting

Write