Suddenly
I saw my soul
as all that I am
I saw my soul
as all that I am
On a night when the nightingale forgot to visit
and I was forced to perch on my own window.
On a night when I read poems underneath dim light
in hopes I’d find God waiting for me
sprawled out in between the lines of words
like a naked 19 year old boy tangled in white sheets
on the other side of the bed.
On a night when
a boy wanted to tickle my hands.
“I have already rung them out,” I said.
They lay sweating and shaking on the undefined line
in between us.
On a night when a boy next to me
handed me a full cup of alcohol
but he was half-empty and overflowing
somehow spilling
on to the floor
or on to the stars
I could not quite tell which.
“They are
the same,” my soul said.
Suddenly I saw my soul
waiting in the bathroom at a highschool party
crouching in the corner
beckoning me to stand still
in that wide doorway of indecision.
I swept her into me
on a night when there were no clean words.
On a night when there were tongues crawling in my mouth
wearing down the stone pathway to my own door.
“I am not worthy of you,” I said to my soul
but there was no one else
to be worthy of.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jen!!! I would love more feedback. --Sabina
Great I'll email you my comments!
DeleteI esp. love the lines, "I swept her into me/on a night when there were no clean words." The second and third stanzas are so incredible, with un-cliche, evocative imagery such as, "like a naked 19 year old boy tangled in white sheets" and the wrung out hands that lie "sweating and shaking on the undefined line" between the speaker of the poem and the boy. Bravo Sabina!
ReplyDelete