ah, matryoshka
how perfect your round face
how full your figure
no one would know
anything is wrong
as long as you
keep your back straight
your chiropractor must be very good
but slip out of alignment for just
one
second
and the jig is up
everyone can see that you’ve been
cut in half
severed at the waist
what were they trying to discard–
the upper half?
or the bottom?
and when you split open
what will we find?
your inner child?
your trauma body?
or have you burned through those
with therapy
and repression
and now your shell is just that?
stare at the clouds at sunset
watch the color drain
the threat and promise of night is fulfilled
Tag: matryoshka
matryoshka (20170507)
this hollowness aches
a matryoshka missing
its final babushka
a cold shadow
without enough room
to allow even an echo
but all too empty
the walls too far apart
the smell of wood
faint
the odor of red paint
overwhelming
x marks the spot
where the heart is buried
but the map is now lost at sea
and no one searches
either on the sea
or in the woods
no one willing to dig
no one willing to open
that last casket
Words and Feathers 