IN LIGHT OF RECENT EVENTS: COLLECTIVE POETRY, ROUND 13

On Wednesdays, I post a photograph on social media and ask my followers to contribute a line of poetry inspired by the photo. Later, I attempt to cobble together a cohesive piece of writing from as many of these suggestions as I can. If you’d like to get into the fun, follow me on my Rasjacobson Art Facebook Page.

This week’s piece is partially inspired by a photograph of two pairs of sneakers. One pair of sneakers is mine and the other actually belongs to my friend’s daughter, but after a disappointing real life conversation I experienced a few days ago, it was easy enough to use our beat-up shoes as a metaphor for a relationship coming undone.

In the end, I borrowed 7 suggested lines from followers.

in light of current events

i asked him,

‘if push comes to shove

do you have my back?’

(because, in truth, that’s

all any of us wants to know)

i imagined his words

would be easy, like releasing doves

with laurel branches firmly

lodged in their beaks –

a simple ‘yes’ and the flood

would recede,

but

i heard his whiskey hesitation,

the way his eyes darted to his feet

and he could not answer

caught, off-guard

by yet another downpour, i see

he is an unsafe haven

his silence, twisted & strangled

the meaning dark as crow’s feathers.

“let’s play sports,” he says, “let’s kayak

to the huckleberries, fish

for marvelous fish, watch Netflix

and chill.”

Across the room, by the door,

space grows between our

sneakered feet, side by side

in matching Converse high-tops

black tongues loosened

i see it now, our situation

dark & tangled as the laces on our shoes.

the game is over

the score is final.

what a headache i have! and injury

provokes only pity at best. to learn

friends are merely friendly, they

belong to the majority. i want to

cover my ears. “Shush!”

i want to shout, “Shush!

i cannot yet hear the truth!”

throw me a bone or

toss a few black peppercorns into

my mouth for the crunch.

for what secret is left

when the parameters have

already been stated?

normally, i don’t like it when people

wear shoes inside my house, but

at least they are ready to leave

at a moment’s notice.

i’m not going to cry over this.

‘when they show us who they are

we must believe them,’

we must learn to listen

not only to what they say

but to what they don’t say

quickly enough

outside, in the unsafe streets

i can finally breathe.