13/30

Why Most of My Poems are Not Happy

Because inner peace sounds like the stillness of air
when you shout it into a canyon. Because a smile
doesn’t need further explanation. Because you
are much more you in metaphor and I need to feel
close and you are empty space. Because every line
needs to feel like a punchline. Because sometimes
I can’t even laugh without crying. Because in
the moments after the release, or the next day
reading the words I wrung out of my sadness,
I float a little higher above the ground. I carry
my shoulders with a hard-won grace.
My fingers do not drag in the dirt. I open my mouth
and it sounds like air.