Sunday, November 8, 2020

Everything You Gave Me Is Too Hot to Hold

If you want

The truth of it?


I guess…


I guess the truth would be

That everything

You gave me

Was too hot to hold


Someone like me…


I had all these plans

Set

In place

And, uh, you know

I never felt anything

That was…


A feeling strong enough

To make me

Uncomfortable

With how…


With how intense

It was

And then you…


Do you remember

You walked up to me

That day

At that…


That day at the march

When people were passing out

Bottled water

And talking about

How many more names we needed

For the petition


And you…


You put your hand

On my shoulder

And I…


All of a sudden

Something was too much


Nothing was ever

Too much for me

Because my whole life

I had never

Never
Been given anything

That I didn’t know

What to do with


You were the first

You were the first person

That I could not

Shrug off


That hand went

On my shoulder

And it…


It…


Do you remember

You went to explain something to me

The following week

And you unrolled my palm

And you sort of looked at me first

As if to ask me

If it was okay

And I…


I looked back at you

Like, yeah, it’s more

It’s...It’s more than okay


You tallied something up

In my palm

Some imaginary numbers

Using your pointer finger

And this feeling

In your voice

This--


This I don’t want to make you feel dumb

Even though I did feel dumb

But not because of you


You walked out

That explanation

And that explanation

Went up my arm

And up my neck
And down every strand of hair

On my head


I was…


Fire is so--


It’s something

People say

That people expect


I wasn’t on fire

I was--


Cold is--


Cold is you’re not alive

Cold is every day

You wake up

And you are handling

Everything

You are capable

You are handling

You are handling it

You are going to work

You are making dinner

Your bills are paid

People are proud of you

People are jealous of you

For how--


For how much
You have your shit together

And you do

You do have it together

And then somebody comes along

And suddenly you are

Lit up

You are

The heat

That’s there

When you forgot

You left the stove on

When you didn’t even know

You had a stove

When you…


When you lay awake at night

And you think

Why couldn’t they

Have touched my other shoulder too?

Why could they have

Put their hand down

On my other palm
And just let it be there?


Why is this too much for me?

Why is it too hot?

Why is everything

This person’s giving me

Too much for me

To accept?


I want to look you

In the eye

And tell you

Things

That would dare you

To break that contact


I want to set you

The way you’ve set me


I want

To be comfortable

Being so

Wildly

Uncomfortable


I want so many things, I…


But more than anything

I want to be empty


I want to be

The emptiest

Vacant

Non--


Non--


No…


Nothing


I want to be void


So that you can

Give me

Everything

You have to give


And I’ll have to

Accept it

No matter what


Because I’ll need

Something


Anything


Something


I’ll need

Whatever it is

You can give me


No matter

How bad
I want to pull

Myself

Away

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