If you take away everything,
\nleave behind the words inside me.
\nThat fill my hands
\ndropping rain through my fingers.
\nWords I can kiss,
\ndrink,
\nsplash on my cheeks
\nlike the elixir of life.
\nWords that become butterflies,
\nparakeets, fragrances
\nfilling the room,
\nopening cupboards to elusive spices,
\nsalt that opens the mouth
\nlike a large kiss,
\nthe mineral substance of being.<\/p>\n
I know how precious
\nthey are to me.
\nYou have heard the passion
\nof their power.
\nI shield them lest they be mocked.
\nCome misshapen from sterile tongues.
\nBe used like captured birds
\nthat have lost their joy,
\nsilent in their cages.<\/p>\n
In your keeping
\nthey are safe,
\nvisible to the world.
\nImmune from harm.
\nFor the child who finds them,
\nfor whom,
\nI saved the words inside me.
\nTo be stacked like blocks,
\nthrown like a ball,
\nsung like lullabies,
\nwhose dreams are theirs.
\nBolts of lightning
\nto light up their eyes,
\nand make them laugh or sing,
\nor cry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you take away everything, leave behind the words inside me. That fill my hands dropping rain through my fingers. Words I can kiss, drink,…<\/p>\n