You say
shame’s like a cracked tooth.
It keeps you wincing delicately
at odd times, but then
you move, you pass
through. You pull
the pain
and leave a hole.
Other feelings, other definitions
float by. You seize the most
arresting ones for yourself:
happiness, you say, is a dark
choice made in
sunlight; grief an infant
left too long alone
on a quilt in a bare room;
anger a rare bird
of cracked leather
flying blind; love
a ridiculous suit.
It’s delicious to some
that you are so swift
with this.
You are passing through
and throwing no shadow,
only a description of a shadow.
Solidity offends you. You mold
your boundaries as if they were
fresh from the clay bank,
never to be fired.
Tomorrow, you’ll say
shame’s a donkey, grief’s
an egg on a ship’s deck, love’s
a new ribbon on an old flag.
And happiness? Happiness
is anger, is happiness. For you,
emotion itself is
simply a blanket you hem and re-hem
so it doesn’t unravel when you pull it
up over your head.
Horror
is seeing
or being
a man with a pen
in his chest
where he should have
a racing heart.
Dark Matter 
February 24th, 2010 at 7:56 am
This is a well done site. My friend spoke of your site and I must say it will turn into a weekly visit for me! Thank you for the wonderful info.
February 15th, 2010 at 3:45 am
I just found you tonight, and am awed by what I’m reading. This is very good stuff. I’ll add you to my blogroll for sure. I’m rollicking in your overuse of metaphor. Whether or not you think you’ve got it right, I’m eating it up with a spoon. Just perfect for my taste. Thanks for being on the page when I went hunting for a good poem.
February 15th, 2010 at 3:54 am
Thank you very much. I’m thrilled to have you here. (I’d be more poetic, but it’s 3 in the morning here…)
February 14th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Oh my God, Tony, this is wonderful beyond words. That first verse is stunning…that’s exactly what shame is, or at least how it feels for me. I just can’t say enough how much I like this. I’ll read it a hundred times through the years. Thanks for the therapy session. Pearl
PS Regret?
February 14th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Thank you…this one was really, really difficult. Getting the metaphors right…not easy.
Regret just didn’t come up in this one, honestly. If you want a metaphor for it…hm. I think of a piano with reverse color keys. You can play it just fine, but your memory won’t let you be comfortable with it…