ledger

I don't look, and I don't see
I hold it back from everybody
I figure it out, the only way I can
a narrow ledge with sharp incline
stepping over all that won't hurt
just for once, it almost works

it scratches and claws to find a way out
all the reasons that I think about
a part of me that I won't show
pushed to the back so no one knows
I hit rewind to where it all began
they don't listen or understand
but I know--but I know
what it's all about

the divinity of what's silently written
the ledger full of numbers and superstitions
like the mountains to the north with the same name
where saguaro grow and don't lay blame
a coyote howls in the dead of night
singing the phrases of its own plight
hungering for all that it longs to possess
out there in the lonely wilderness

Poetry by M.J.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License