I awaken caged in a cage built from
bleached wolverine bones. I am still here.

I break free. Nude in summer, dressed in skin
in which I was fashioned. I am still here.

Recall clothing I have worn: leather,
stalking prey, stalking men. I am still here.

Recall clothing: fighting Romans, fighting
Turks, fighting Saxons, fighting plague. I am still here.

Recall clothing: in factories, sweating, lost amid
grubby machines, cursing their owners. I am still here.

Succinct, brief counselor for gods I did not worship;
I spoke to children and then let them be. I am still here.

Florid teller of long tales to middle-aged, to elderly;
I spoke forcefully, then let them be. I am still here.

Now then: crippled somewhat, dimming in memory,
fading from view as this earth spins by. I am still here.

In clothes too large for me now, in skin wrinkled
by time’s passage. I sit in one place all day. I am still here.

Say it to me, say it with me, say it till daylight runs amok
and we are all clothed in a wolverine’s bones. I am still here —

I am still here; I AM still here; I am STILL here; I am still HERE.
I have never been elsewhere, in fact; here I am. I am still here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
onward,
T