any other flower

Purple and blue
my toes
wriggling
giggling
begging the feeling back into my body
Knotty backs giving way
under strong, misplaced hands
Rubber bands stretch and release
tying my hair back in place
out of my hands
off of your face
their dark shadows no longer
covering the space between our eyes
Fireflies flicker instead
racing through the trees
Running away from becoming iridescent spots
on someone’s windshield
Is that where I am?
My glow exploded into a million pieces
Fading faster,
spread too thin
trying to find myself again
inside this jumble of
philosophical bullshit.
But with thoughts too big for even
English language to ponder
my mind wanders to
meaningless things:
cell phone rings
blueberries
baseball bats
the Bible
and suddenly I’m back where I started
chewing my way through the textbook called
life
Never satisfied with the answers no one has
The mysteries
the mayhem
page 96 of your history book
take another look
do you recognize the name?
“Have you ever heard of Marcus Garvey?”
Well I can’t believe no one ever told you.
as you take hits from him
will the irony seep through
or will you wrap yourself up
in what they told you?
“Have you ever heard of Marcus Garvey?”
No.
he’s black and proud
rebellious and loud
likely to stand up
even against you
as the white smoke collects
will you see your own place?
just a face
my face
a see of middle-class Jewish kids
all looking to be the next Premier of Russia
My words,
the wrong color
the wrong sounds
the wrong reasons for preaching the truth
But have you sat on a porch
no one around
contemplating the Golden Eternity
collapsing into a nap
take my word for it
you are nothing
everything is nothing
you are my everything
the logic proceeds
that nothing is everything
and that feels right
tight like your hands on my neck
breath on my breasts
silence in my ears as I press
them into the pillow
arms like a willow
unable to do anything but weep
And sleep.
Because that’s the best solution
when all the words are
speechless.