Unforgiving

Like the dull edge of a butcher’s knife

Like the blunt edge of a loggers axe

We’re all exposed beneath-

beneath our soft underbelly

at which we keep our hands

protection from something barbed

Like my Mother’s voice

Like my Father’s hand

I’m exposed and anxious

wishing my mind would cease

an end to the maddening presence

fear of a flattening essence

Like the sound of blue jay

Like the silence of a cat

A secret self

untouched by torment or pain

unbound by the capacity of consciousness

loosening toward a forward escape

Like the time will tell

Like the tide will pass

I’ll be off now

a sacrifice

to the unforgiving

to the unforgettable