Oh, the Sound of Pain

a blip on the meninges
sends her into dark
spinal frenzy

she can hardly twist
to look over
the shoulder

of this road
where bluffs erode
into a cacophonous sea

so many birds
lift in unison

caw as they pass

swoop through
the deafening spray

she determines the ligaments
where inflammation
could mean growth

holds tight to the perverse
possibility that stiffness
might serve her better

than accommodation has
might help her build
fire walls to guard

against the tides
slammed against
the edges of this land

Phantom

the injury to her hyoid
bone caused a constant
choke hold

she’d swallow as if
the cherry pit she felt
were natural
as if the strangle hold
were a phantom limb
extracted from her neck
and swallowed

the fear lodged itself
in her omohyoid
and her shoulders
pulled forward
chin jutted

still, over the brambled years
she could imagine him
slamming his body
toward her soft palette
the viscous saltiness
thick on the back
of her throat

she rarely cried out after that
but swallowed her pain
and shouldered
insistent shoves
relentless demands
hands pushing her
head down

hands clouding
like a softly drugged
mind-set, the open
channel she vaguely
remembered
on her crown

gaze

into the mirror she alters
perspective in order
to salvage some coherence

amidst the whirl
of myriad personas
anger is her 3rd rail

a dangerous electricity
inhabits her low back

afternoon reflects her outline
a suspect genealogy
someone of partial remembrance

a bony contour
a hand-me-down clock
the leotard her body danced

she exchanges herself with time
emerges partial
to her own integration

recognition

mistook pride
for contempt in
an on-line quiz

sneer of self-importance
vs. inward smile
EQ mastery
via actors’ expressions

how to imply rage
without eyes leveled
vehement dart of distrust or

how to convert camera
into love by a turn
of the cheek a glance
into discerning lens

part of what we know
is a translation from
remark to sensate
therein the chemistry
secreted messages
interface with breath
mood emerges

x-change

we hover in habitual
despair too sensitive
for milk and cheap shoes

our plantar fasciitis aches
as soon as our feet touch
the hardwood floors

this preference for Egyptian
cotton and eco-friendly
cleansers exceeds the peri-

menopausal spotting while
quietly, in retro-linoleum
kitchens, we admit to kegels

our fears of flaccid
vaginal walls outweigh
taboos friendships bridge

when the song comes

disembodied, I wafted
from one broken facet to another
all terrified and calcified along my spine
interrupted messages, unnerved and random
caused a plaintive quality, a nasal timbre
as if the only option were; cry

to hoist each fragment
out of the mine shaft
of solitary confinement
seemed paralyzing
but it didn’t pay to rattle around
in my own echo chamber any longer
life was time sensitive
and the double hemispheres
had synchronized, patience had worn thin
sensuality, with its humor,pithy and hot
wanted a faster train of thought

the challenge to un-split despite
constricted potentials outside the box
and the purported marginality
of a gender neutral stance
came as a fantastic consequence
there were no caveats, no expectations
the only repetitive stress could be assuaged
with symbolic gestures: a Ganesh shirt
an expandable Buddha; the photo gallery in my Droid

the Rainrap, ineffective in east coast October
and the 33 De Camp bus, slightly late
hand-picked rendez vu’s allowed for
the arc of self over four decades, unapologetic autonomy

whenever we celebrate this many shuffled-over years
our multi-generational perplexity can soften
a congruity of forgiveness and mutual sorrow
crippling stories and generosity
renew the common thread
balancing genetic with chosen

we may close our eyes
or open them
without grave dangers
resonating forward
from various pasts
and when the song comes
we can sing

stop, weight

she struggles with her reptilian
brain, hedonic and reactive
the age old desire to store fat

her goal fluctuates as if
lifetime is a range adapted
from an on-line chart

small signs of age gather
in her larder; individually
wrapped snacks and berry fruities

zen moments are impeded by a widening
gap beside the right incisor and the daily
search for misplaced progressive lenses

lithe memories abound
the resonant thrill of eye to eye
contact, first kisses all over the globe

equilibrium keeps elusive company
mood swings and intermittent blood
in exchange for metered rhythms

all of the self-care sign-posts
have similar fonts in big letters
soft curves and a welcome-in aspect
she hovers at the back of a morning
meeting, sports a make-shift badge
and new age water bottle

with the onslaught of celery and persistent
calculation around portion control
she shifts her weight