Originally posted 12/8/2011.
Overheard words
on a Philadelphia street
a toothless woman
a rusty gun
Been quivering for two full days now
as I’ve tried to decide
how to steal and reuse them
in a context of my own choosing —
how to create
a suitable conversation
not slanted
to redneck imagery
Perhaps I’m quivering because
I can’t decide
why that was the first context I imagined
to fit those words
Perhaps that’s why I’m working so hard
to ensure that you know
that I’m putting someone else’s words
to work for me
Perhaps because I myself
have grown toothless and rusty
by making the original conversation an evil to rail against
I get to feel smiley and shiny again
Whatever the words got caught on
They landed in my ear
Now they’re trying to leave my mouth
and having a hell of time doing it
I don’t know where they want to go
Per usual I never even looked up to see
who in Philadelphia
was using them
Dark Matter 
December 16th, 2015 at 8:29 pm
I can see why those words would resonate for you. the poem shows that the street poetry you overheard was not a kind gift because you had to wrestle with how to use the words and not sound like a redneck. you address the reader personally, which also made the poem engaging. my favorite lines:
Now they’re trying to leave my mouth
and having a hell of time doing it.