A body
Erected to emulate the gods, taut calves
To strut with an unstoppable swagger, squat hamstrings
To lift the brunt of so many words, tensed gluteus
To power through when emotion wears too much, washboard abdominals
to fill the pit in the stomach with hardened tissue, bursting pectorals
to stick out, to be beaten in victory, immense deltoids
to reach broad enough to hold it all in, sinewy biceps
to hold and carry all those clamoring to jump on, strapping triceps
to push the dragging, clutching shadow of the self away, brawny trapezius
to keep the head from lopping itself off, perked ears
to hear her trembling pitch of love within the accusatory tone of defiance of her dreams, steeled eyes
to see his face as a pacifist, without staring daggers, tight lips
to stifle the scream of condemnation, a bared esophagus
to let the bleat of a garbled yes pass through the gaunt teeth,
ready to bite the tongue that cannot speak the words that hurt, strong convictions
to see love for her as the end, not the means, infallible restraint
to admire her in her betrayal and donate assent to her transgression, strong mind
to callous the spongy brain that has absorbed too much and needs to squeeze itself dry, leviathan heart
to consume everything else, to devour the feelings that cannot be named,
to beat steady and send an ooze to quench the searing of all of the veins filled with granite,
to harden the statue, concrete against the abstract, the rock that cannot let squeeze out a single
tear
to drop down
past the leaking nose
the quivering mouth
the slumped shoulders
the cavernous chest
the tumultuous core
the wobbling knees
to fall to the floor in a tepid pool
to build a river to isolate the severed base
of a chiseled statue
of a broken man.

06/25/2010

Author's Note: 6 seconds to unravel 6 months

Posted on 06/25/2010
Copyright © 2025 Michael Nill