relationships – Undusted Corners

fractures (with apologies to william carlos williams)

If you search for “poems about broken arms”you’ll find the words of amateurs,mainly,But who is a pro at this?Are the missing plums from the iceboxA metaphor for the ligamentPulling my bone until it snapped?Snapped,Forgive me.Forgive me? They were soSoSo I’m going to ask you a lot of intrusive questionsAnd I’m so sorryI just don’t wantContinue reading “fractures (with apologies to william carlos williams)”

☿

A pair of fading bruises the size of thumbprintspaint my inner thighwhere you once marked me as yours,though you were never mine. kfw 2024

Arnika

I claw at the ragged edges of sleep,curled up in a ball on the cast-off loveseatat the end of my bed,while you sleep soundly, legs akimbo,on the mattress. What conversation is there to be had?What rest is there to gain? I loved until my lungs were bruised.I loved until my blood ran clear. I’ve nothingContinue reading “Arnika”

“If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy.”

Such pains evade the eternally ephemeral—the ones only landing lightly,A brush against a cheek so gentle you’d almost think you’d dreamed it.So soft.So fleeting. We landed too hard this time,The both of us.Left an imprint on your faceScraped your noseSliced your chin, just there. Just so. And me, as much the worse for wearBruised downContinue reading ““If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy.””

thrums

and thereare thosemeantfor passing-throughmerelyfor passing-through gentlygentler, still. for passing-throughmy handsholding my handsholdingthemloosely,looser, still. turning and turning and turningevery thread of my love, my love, my loveinto the warp and weft. kfw 2021

abscission

The last leaves fall like reluctant fledglings pushed from the nest. We stood beneath them as they were birthed in the Spring, budding forth a silent audience to our entwined unburdening. Now they rest beneath my feet, holding a hundred and one unspoken griefs; gently releasing them as I walk away. kfw 2021

The rubric

My personal life is something of an enigma to my coworkers. This is mostly intentional on my part, though I have shared bits and pieces, (only occasionally and almost entirely contextually). Typically, though, no one asks, which makes it easier to not reveal too much. The other day, though, one of my coworkers — afterContinue reading “The rubric”

hinges

She tells me10 minutes a daymight help — of mindfulnessof meditation — I rememberbefore leaving bed this morningknowing that if not nowI may not have a chance,The house is neverthis quiet I set the timeron the appand try to sitthe wayTeshinshowed usin the zendowhen I chaperonedthe kidson theirneighboring faithstrip,though I know I’ve got the armsallContinue reading “hinges”

tiny rebellions

During my first marriage, struggling to hang in there (for reasons I will not enumerate) and struggling with the guilt of not wanting to hang in there, I read a book by a Christian author who said that the purpose of marriage was to make you “holy, not happy.” Holy, not happy. As though marriageContinue reading “tiny rebellions”

microchimerism (and other persistences)

In spite of having convinced myself that I’d successfully encapsulated, sealed and healed them, past wounds leak out when I don’t expect it. I don’t mind so much if they leak out when I’m alone—I’ve got that down to a science—but when they leak in public, like an unexpected period on a newly menstruating teenager’sContinue reading “microchimerism (and other persistences)”