A POEM A DAY

word of mouth is law unless you lose your jaw // ignore the instinct to speak like a dance // every rule has an exception // every exception has a rule // but does it apply? // please don’t watch my crooked feet // all my life I never learned to lead // on principle I ask to take a hand I know it isn’t there // people disappear like smoke but stay like cologne // in the shadow of the sun I spectate the spectacular // revisiting vulnerability as vernacular // who wants to sit and talk about their crooked constitution? // our teeth leave footprints in the words we speak// a monster of joy stomps through the puddles of my past // the terror of my joy is new // it is scary without scope // without borders // this wild conflict convulses within me like a chore I forgot to tend // this is a labor long after love // looks itself in the mirror after the longest night // most of the time my smile is a smirk // but when thinking about work // I am weak in the knees lucky // lovestruck in the legs // I lie in a lazy joy // just as the music fades // and this is where a lost jaw joins the mouth // where my red smile drops // a heavy curtain calling // to be picked up // because someone put my name on the marquee // I sing I want to see the movies of my dreams // unless the show is over //