The words increase as I think about them
In their heat and meaning
In their callous disregard
In their amazing brevity and impact
In the way they burned into me
Like a branding iron searing
Through soft flesh, happy flesh
Burning it to a crisp
To a disfigured remnant
Of a better day.

And then something happens
Like a gauzy smearing of fixation
And it blurs up a little
A broken wiper on the highway
I'm squinting and trying to see
That tiny little fuse that burned
That heat and fire and anger
And tore me up like a voided check
Or unwanted junk mail
And sent me headfirst into the trash bin.

Then comes the missing emptiness
Where something's not right
I keep trying to think, but nothing happens
In terms of clearing things out
There's always that nothing there
Sort of a weird little pause in memory
Like a moved knickknack that
I just notice in an absentminded way
Until one day I really notice it.
How did that get there?

08/19/2005

Posted on 12/21/2005
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