Put me in
the place of your story.
Show me who you are
and where you are from.
All along,
I’ve been alone
and telling mine.
Each word,
every syllable,
a heartbeat.
Speak to me,
so I might hear you.
Project your voice;
your audience
is captive.
Keep them that way
with the generosity
of your suffering.
Don’t hold back.
I’m a grown man.
I can take it.
God knows,
I’ve been through
the narrow part
of the river
a time or two
myself,
and here I am,
waiting for you
to put me right back in it.
For your sake.
For my sake.
There is nothing more important
than we might understand one another.
I reject this gift
at my peril,
so I accept it,
eagerly,
hungrily.
As if my own life
and the lives of those I love
depends on it.
Because, it does.
They do.
We are not
so disparate creatures
and we all
come to the narrow place
to be smashed
and dashed
to pieces by the rocks
and the current.
We both seek
the calm waters
on the other side.
The path that leads
to paradise.
HG – 2022
