Poem From an Other

When my heart is hollow
and jagged synonyms
for grief, loss, pain
tumble from my eyes

when there is no comfort
in old routines
and everyday objects
become waiting landmines

when even simple kindness
disturbs the surface
I have worked
so hard to calm

I turn to you, favored poet
but find you busy
constructing verbal walls
to keep the rabble out.

With my finger I trace
book-jacket photo
lines of worry carved
on your bald head

to fear
your own voice
might not be heard
above the dissonance.

Have you forgotten?

Self-expression
is a lonely highway
traveled by many
owned by no one

where accolades
provide no fuel
but true words
freely given do.