where's bundled proof to set ablaze
to spark ablaze what's real

they're on the other line
demanding evidence

the bigwigs
the corporate tie-whores
of science, fact, and physics

they're paging over the loud speaker

leaving calling cards
and faxes

where's the bundled proof to set ablaze what's real

yes, i see the roads and highways
and i see the doors and walls

and
i feel hail and earthquakes
and i hear horns and sighs
and i taste spice and cream

and you see
and you see

i remember falling off a see-saw long ago

i remember the tears that quivered off my cheeks
and sitting in a lap that held arms around me

i remember playing beside a boulder heavy in thigh-high grass
and snapping peas and shucking corn in sunlight
and falling off a borrowed friend's bike
a bike too big for me

and i remember paddling
down the humid post-storm street
with my hurricane sneakers and emergency shoelaces
tied

you see

sometimes we're just bitty earnest guppies in a concrete sea of proof
jackhammering our serious fishy ways
toward our souls
the souls that are already here
everywhere

jackhammering
with senseless thoughts and concepts
with senseless moods and concerns
with senseless goals and plans

i remember swallowing a g washington quarter
then gasping and fighting for breath
and the swift mid-thoracic whack
that sent the silvery coin sailing
into a magnificent aerial spin

and i remember the lost sad angst of a tantrum
on the linoleum kitchen floor
nobody listening
to my shrieks and screams
to my pounding fists and feet

i remember turning cartwheels
and double backward somersaults
for hours and days

i remember selling chocolate door-to-door
and washing neighbors' cars
and unlocking locker doors
in open-air malls
alarms signaling release
and laughing
so much until i cried

and i remember when they cut the mother open
to pull the baby out
while i held her hand
and held her hand
and all the blood behind the sheet
while i soothed her nervous glances
and they reached inside her for the child
i held her hand and held her hand
the hand that chopped down trees for kindling to set it all ablaze

its all so real
its not







•••••••••••

ah, love...

:)