For A Friend

Posted by Melissa Pavri | Filed under Poetry, Print

all i could feel was my own stillness
skulking between my bones
dragging the ballad of her sunken chest against my flesh
her pendulum smile was small
skeptical
of place
of light
of face
of time
she mumbled agony between her words
i am fine
i see her crack beneath my gargantuan concern
questions tumbling in stone columns
like the apocalyptic musings of rand
she shrugs and flees to the comfortable gap between her hands
how could this happen i ask
her eyes are dying acrobats
all they know is sweet release and disbelief
recovering air and sweating stars
leaning towards a cosmic precipice
till the giant fists of gravity pummel them into oblivion
her recollections sound like a homesick accordion
and an orchestra of misplaced crickets
frantic and riotous
there is a violence in not knowing
in not wanting to remember
the quiet of his eyes and the footsteps of a moment
when the sky quits and comes tumbling down
on humanity in all its war torn glory
there is something muddled in her composition
the advent of nose to looking glass
she is not quite sure of her anatomy
not as much confidence in her collarbone
no sanctuary in her spine
i wonder if she taught herself how to fall
in the star struck span of a second
holding onto the horizon for dear life
like a jittery sun sinking into oceanic sidewalk
did she notice the pavement was bleeding
when she peeled herself from its deep sea depths
did she lose her earth legs in a titanic shipwreck
and leave her tongue somewhere starboard of protest
i wonder if she knew breath
was a black pearl wonder
too easily taken and
damn near impossible to reconstruct
i wonder if she wished her father was the moon
ever watchful marvel of a man
with a crater for a mouth
and wrinkles that concede the world is ugly
wished he would swallow silence
and never want any more answer
from his slender moonbeam of a daughter

Permalink | Other posts by Melissa Pavri| October 17th, 2009

One Response to “For A Friend”

  1. Ilana Millner Says:
    October 19th, 2009 at 1:29 pm

    i can’t help but sink into your words – everything feels so present. beautiful mel

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