the first step
My voice is fuelled by charcoal and bricks
at the sight of feeling misunderstood
my skull wrinkles, my heart swells upย
to the back of my nostrils, my throat searchesย
for other airways to breathe
to be misunderstood at first attempt
is the disease of the year.
there are many reasons to be stretched to the edge
with an eighty pound weight swinging at our chests
sometimes we cope by holding in air
by focusing on the metal in our hands
by keeping a tally of inconveniences
every conversation costs us
to be misunderstood at first attempt
feels much worse than screaming memes and convictions into the digital abyss
to be misunderstood at first attempt
causes our skull to wrinkle because we feel the urgency
we wished the work of understanding andย being understoodย
were completed by now
so that in case of a global meltdown,
we would have already known how to hold each other
softly with warmth, gently with words
cradling each other with service and handmade gifts
sanitized with a bow or washi tape at each otherโs door
instead โ we are at the first step
reaching out our fingers and toes
crossing our eyes to look at our noseย
filling our chest, then emptying it again
deeply, with intention
we are still learning to stretch our necksย
as far as we ever have without straining it,
to see ourselves clearly
this is the first step