wolfpainting

 

To be misunderstood can be the writer’s punishment for having disturbed the reader’s peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding.

Anatole Broyard

 

3:36 am

if I whisper words

will you hear them?

if I fashion them

properly

carefully

just so

will you understand what I am truly saying?

I have bled into every word

I have saved tears and tucked them into the corner
of every picture that I hand you

I tell stories, speaking softly and slowly
in order to mitigate the drama

because the drama ruffles your feathers
and stops up your ears

so I stop talking

But the stories rumble

and my bleeding heart is impatient
with my whispering concerns over reception

it circles and

paces

paces

paces

until bars bend

and all runs free

I howl and claw

and no longer give a damn if you speak Italian or French

 

~ Betsy Cañas Garmon