Rib Cage

She laid hands on you
And I was not there
For I had not even become
A thought yet

Out of sight, out of mind
And so we did not exist to one another
As words turned mottled bruises
Into blossoming blue flowers
As if the rage imprinted on your body
Was done with poetry in mind

But it never was and never will be
Something that can be twisted into elegance
The gag-producing snap of your arm and mind
Flooded with me a violent rage
As I locked you away in my ribs,

Gazing down at the hooded warbler
Who sang so sweetly a broken tune.
I thought if I only crooned
You would be healed
Magically your bones and mind fixed.

But my heart grew so big
You started suffocating instead of singing
And I grew frustrated with my silenced canary
Too blind to see I was killing you
Deaf to your pleas for less.

It was thankful providence
That my bloated veneration was slit
Allowing my infected pupils to see
I was crushing my precious songbird.
Instantly I threw open your cage
Aching with the failure
Of what I thought you needed.

That my love was a suitable prison
Because of the name I had labeled it
Telling myself that this was better
Instead of worse
Because my ignorant heart knew nothing more

It was upon your release
I buried myself in words
To make sense of your wounds
And to wash away this guilt
For in my quest to save you
I showered you with all that I had
Expecting I would reap what I had sown
But instead came to see you as an endless well

And I could not bear this betrayal I had committed
Prostrating myself before one and all
In an attempt to make up for it
But it was not until I stood up
And sought a truthful shaman amongst the liars
That my sin was broken apart like a rock
Allowing me to see how I had deceived myself.

And I began to cleanse away the infection
Weeping in joy as my sweetheart
Perched on the top rung of my ribs
Singing me a gently sorrowful tune
As if to show her forgiveness for my transgression

I stroked her tiny little body
And rejoiced that she was still mine
Still willing to love
Even when I had begun to kill her with my own.

But I knew now how to control myself
Knew I could not shelter her inside myself any longer
If she was to heal and become healthy
And so I left her alone to perch where she would like
Knowing she loved me in her own way
And so I found contentment