Poem a Day, April 24

April 24, 2009





stepping from a taxi
echoing through the foam
of too many beers,
digging dollars from my pocket
to pay the toll

so many nights
lost in bars and women,
sometimes men,
drowning the days of pain
in nights of darkness

so lost, inhaling smoke
and exhaling despair, clouds
of cynicism and cold breath,
wandering Seattle streets
in the loneliest hours of night

that was years ago, and still
the memory stains my bones,
years spent exorcising the ghosts
have opened space within ribs,
more room to breathe

the ravens of my soul
are proof that barbed wire
around the throat need not
be fatal, that blood flows
after the cleansing

Tags: NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month, Poem a Day, April 24, 2009, poetry