Anodyne
…it’s the body’s betrayal:
microbiological entities
that are incapable of dialogue
or reason, just random injury that’s
predicated on susceptibilities
and sets of unpredictable hieroglyphs
that determine the coriolis of
the ear, the dusty webs of the irises,
(…) the strictly elliptical orbits of
the moons in my fingertips.
…the prescribed medicine spreads,
reinforcing nerves, galvanizing platelets
through parcels of cure all promising that
the sickness will not endure.
…and heartache and heartbreak can’t
absorb cure, and they can’t comprehend the
complexity of chemicals meant to
dissolve disease on a molecular level.
When the heart is most wounded, its betrayals
can extend from words meant to spread comfort
to encountering boundaries in loved ones,
from well-intentioned allies who really
ought to rescind their neutrality (…) to
the time-bending calculus of my memories.
…yet small parcels of hope—sparking pathways
of possibility—along with time
and its widening, erosive ways, can
crumble outmoded resolutions. They’re
analgesic, laying down snow fallen paths
that lie in wait to be (…) footprinted, and
(…) explored, unless…
This had been dozing in my drafts folder for several weeks, and while recovering these last few days, I finally had the chance to revise and post it. It’s somewhat syllabically regular—sevens, tens, elevens, a four, and a few twelves, depending upon your dialect—and the lacunae and ellipses are meant for the reader to do some work around this opus modeled after an academic text.
Sometimes you just don’t feel like you have all the information, and it’s your job to fill in the blanks, right? OK? Good. ♥ EAB