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Out of the Textbox Bumbles

From a writing sess with R.C. Taylor and Muchtar Suryawan, with thanks to Londzo’s “It Always Ends”

By Oneg In The ArcticPublished 9 months ago 1 min read
Out of the Textbox Bumbles
Photo by Laine Cooper on Unsplash

I return back to the strum of your voice

a lulling that gives me sustenance and a reason to go on

we are so lucky

that we get to hear each others voice regardless of time and space

my great grandmothers voice teases to escape me

with the smile in her wrinkly eyes saying

“maybe you should have been here more, 

heard me more

been born earlier”

but i had not chosen the stolen land on which I’d grow on

like corn in a desert

mint in the snow drifts

and no I know that’s not an excuse to lose the ripple in your voice notes

but gosh

if only I was born earlier

or you later

how everything would be so different 

though perhaps it wouldnt

like the sunsets would still chase sunrises

artichokes would still be weird

the smell of cheese melting would still make me nauseous 

I swear these are not excuses

and yet

we’re constantly chasing what could have been

a kite crashing rather than remembering it’s contrast to the endless sky

i use the word endless too much

yet pray it will form like skin around your voice and give you shape again

even if in the shape of abutterfly

a bird

a dragonfly

something that would let you come to me

even though I keep living in all the extreme places

the journey, extreme for a butterfly too

perhaps that’s why your whisper travels on wind

Which swirls around the Atlantic and loses direction in the arctic

but every now and then, you make it to my dreams

And I think, how lucky we are

too have spent any time together at all

in your kitchen

at the table playing cards

walking together on Sokolov as you tell me that a lot of your friends are dead now but you still walk to your friends house three times a week to play cards

because at least you can

and I think

how lucky I am

to share this with you

even for a little bit

(Because at least I could

Even for a little bit )

For FunFree Verseperformance poetryStream of Consciousness

About the Creator

Oneg In The Arctic

A queer storyteller and poet of arctic adventures, good food, identity, mental health, and more.

Co-founder of Queer Vocal Voices

Water is Life ✊

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Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (4)

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  • ThatWriterWoman9 months ago

    There is a yearning to this piece that is hard to capture as a writer - well done!

  • Mother Combs9 months ago

    priceless, Oneg

  • "yet pray it will form like skin around your voice and give you shape again" I especially loved that line!

  • Such a treasure. My grandmother taught me how to play Canasta. Saturdays after elementary school orchestra practice we'd play until mom came to pick me up.

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