What Needs to Happen

 

The stage may be 10 x 10,

no more or no less than

a geometry of unleashed feeling

contained as in a box,

an unreal life at stake

unless we become

convinced

a fairy is in fact

a light

dying to be saved.

Cue applause.

 

Your job, to create concern

in those who witness you,

as you skin a rabbit,

sacrifice your vanity,

empty your youth

from your pockets,

give glimpses

into all our futures

as if they swam

pickled in jars.

 

We need to know you care

about the woman begging

you to give her a sign,

about the child you

gave up for adoption

because of your addictions.

We need you to scream

for us. Because we can’t.

You must be a crucible.

Not yours, ours.

Though what’s ours

is yours. We need you

to walk in our shoes.

 

 

We want to know

how you lost

your great love

and now are so

empty

yet ready again

to be filled,

though

no one will ever

want you quite like

that again

as we lean in

longing to disagree;

our mutual longing

is key.

 

We need you to twist yourself

every which way

for the sake of love.

We need you to put yourself aside

so completely that you become

nothing less than

a pagan sacrifice,

to show us how

the slightest moment

can become an event.

Give us such details

that we become detectives

on the trail of our own murders.

Show us naked faces

stripped from their comfort zones.

Release the hiding child

behind all that grows old.

Let your instruments be

so delicious that

we become hungry

and want to know

how you were made.

Surely you know

emotions are edible

and that we are

hungry beggars

longing for a banquet.

 

We’ll want to know why

you chose beige

and not red

to melt down in.

Why not be like colors

and take us to yourselves?

Then, when things go black

bring us a candle

to find our way

home.

 

Show us your horoscope

without telling us your sign

revealed in your qualities

as ours also rhyme.

Air, fire, water,

or earth is how

you give birth

as you are so present

you can’t help but be

what you are.

Maybe then

your commitment

to embody hardships

will bring us

to our senses

as well as

to our feet.

 

11/16/22