Stuff I’m not talking about
piles up, squashing my nimbleness
of speech, of thought

Things I say over top of it
lack the connection to underlying structure,
can’t indicate the muscle, bone, and sinew

They slope off like fluff –
they don’t hold my interest,
I can’t write them down

And the stuff I’m not talking about
hulks in its darkness  –
seems like I’ll need more than words
to pull it out.

©Wendy Mulhern
May 15, 2022