—Say it, no [ ] but in [ ]—
nothing but the vulnerable wrists
and putty fetuses
spiraled, queued by passion and fuck-ups—
quiet, a bowl of science-based, a carried
secret—because emotion is unlike a bullet, which
is unlike evidence—based on fingertips. Things—
like humanity—assert presence and mean entitlement,
inconvenient like breath. But the bullet.
And because the voice.
Mouths are only scars with teeth meant to
—say it: transgender, contraception, diversity—
unspool the words because—and so— they
never run out.
Sarah Cedeño writes on good days and worries every day.
Inspiration: I was thinking about empathy and William Carlos Williams while I was preparing a discussion about abstract vs. concrete for my creative writing students.
The CDC Poetry Project 