Why I Write
Location
For as long as I can remember, the written word has been my roadmap
the only one I've ever followed without asking for directions
because each twist and turn has charted itself into the curves of my arteries, the straights of my veins
I am navigating my own bloodstream
swimming into a silence that swallowed all of my dictionary shortcuts
and said no
you are the pen on your own paper
these poems must bloom like bruises
breaking the red vessels beneath
in a purple-blue fire
burning the floorboards from the hull of my ship
there is no such thing as smooth sailing
no method for swerving around the fissures that form
the first time your father hits you
and I never learned how to tell the truth
I just learned how to write poems
they say that is good enough
maybe someday I'll believe them