Shell.

Shell

I'm sure those cinderblocks were heavy

When you removed them from your chest

Dripping sweat, taking longer & deeper breaths

As our witch hunt has finally come to rest

& you've been found Not Guilty because,

In all actuality, you have never been Found.

in Fact – no one has ever even looked for you.

Not even in my mind. No one would ever even know you were there.

That you existed.

Crammed beneath cobwebs &

Phone numbers, vocabulary defintions &

Pill dust, the pledge of allegiance & words

To my favorite songs.

in Fact, nowadays, I don't even see you there.

you could probably leave now.

Go back home. I'm sure they miss you there.

I've learned to breathe again –

& drive a car, use a computer & dry my tears.

The city blocks have grown wider around me & I've walked side by side with trees while trading superior smiles & glances with many differently colored skies from the rooftop of my heart.

So…if you want to leave now, I won't be mad.

nobody knows where you are so

I think you'll be safe

you won't have to worry.

I used the light from your fire on my ears to Bravedance.

& you've been my dance partner now for all these years, so

i'm sure you must know all these moves by now.

Right?

I hope that now we have learned Peace.

& how to love without Force.

love out loud

using our bodies as our Voice.

because our Souls have been

too quiet for too long now

as you've been shoved into the background with disgrace

I hope you can learn to be happy in your new place

Where I am finally free of your face

Of your brother

Of your words &

Your fire

Your weight & your hair

i hope your storage boxes have been emptied of my

My guilt, my shame

Your basement

My embarrassment

My shell -

and i hope that we can use Forgiveness now

to place these cinderblocks at the foundations of Hell

So that perhaps we can learn from our mistakes

Or at least have a story to tell.

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