I am still learning how to live in this life.
What my role is or if I even have one.
How to kiss madness and all ugly things
good morning
How to kiss men goodbye
How to sail into their sorrow
when they have nothing more to say
How to build paper lungs
to write all the poetry
my mouth cannot contain
How to know the difference
between
wanting
and needing
How to know everything I’ve ever needed
lies in my very existence.
The difference between
A storm and soft rain
And the kind of mess
they each leave by the sidewalk
How to stick thorns in the mouths of men
who mispronounce my name
How to leave the petals for the ones that don’t
I am learning the ways of my body
At times it cries the deepest rivers
Chooses to shed its skin
Paper Lungs 