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[Library] On All Fours
by Nikki RiceIn the bathtub,
on my elbows and knees,
I'm reminded of times past
as the water beats on my back
and runs down my hair.
I'm low enough now to see that this tub is cheap.
I move my weight onto my hands
and notice they're like a child's -
clean and short and tan and young;
how could they have executed as much violence
as they've pushed away?
Cigarette burns have raised
and may soon disappear;
With no evidence, I will not remember
how and why and when but mostly who,
since I've never had a face
to put with a name.
When I die, my cause will read
"failure to thrive."
Perhaps my epitaph will say the same.
One forces me while another fears me.
Bruises are love and hospitals are hate.
White walls are clean
and I am dirty in comparison.
Still on all fours, by the way,
I make the water a little hotter. 01/07/2008 Author's Note: You can lead a whore to water, but you can't make her drink.
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Growth failure, or failure to thrive (FTT), is a descriptive term and not a specific diagnosis. Although definitions vary, most authors use this term only when growth has been noted to be low or to have decreased over time. - eMedicine.com
Posted on 01/07/2008
Copyright © 2024 Nikki Rice
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Coleman Demiurge on 01/09/08 at 03:20 AM Brutally beautiful; a piece as discordant as it is excellent. It's hard to say which part of this I admire the most, so I'll just go with all of it. Nevertheless, the part that did stand out to me the most were the lines: "With no evidence, I will not remember
how and why and when but mostly who,
since I've never had a face
to put with a name". Good epitaph too; I may have to use it myself... Most excellent work. |
| Posted by Nikki Benson on 01/10/08 at 04:49 PM Wow... I really liked that.
I like music/poetry that is dark and dirty...
you've embraced the ugly. that's beautiful. |
| Posted by David Garner on 01/10/08 at 05:40 PM This is a powerful poem. I was engaged by being on all fours in the bathtub but it slowly changes into something much deeper, something darker. |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 01/11/08 at 05:18 AM This is well written and frightening and quite powerful. Thanks for the FTT note. |
| Posted by Ken Harnisch on 01/11/08 at 12:47 PM Searing. Knocked me back to read such honesty here disguised as a poem. |
| Posted by Lauren Singer on 01/13/08 at 03:15 AM all of this is immensely beautiful, dark, and amazingly written. a great PoTD choice. my only suggestion would be to take out that last "by the way" in the last stanza, as it took away the breathiness of the rest of the poem. all in all, i was floored. |
| Posted by Tony Whitaker on 01/13/08 at 10:18 AM Yikes, such a subject and emotion so hard to understand yet so real and depicted here. |
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