DID YOU KNOW. . . by Christine Kiefer

of the roads I walked
along barefoot or the vines
I swung from with weak arms
and a sunburnt face?
have you seen me
with my little knack,
point to north, south
east, west in a foreign town?
Have you thought of me wanting
to be good at you, enough to
never find the breaking point
that place where the red wine runs down
the wall after the glass shatters and the stem
lies quietly twinkling on white carpet
while there’s an ache in the stomach
like way back at the beginning when
you starved yourself to feel human
and celebrated your blood, your sweat
and every damn pain to know you were alive

Christine is an attorney in the Midwest. Her work has been featured in various e-zines, including Thievesjargon, and can be found here: http://middleofusa.blogspot.com/