with no punctuation, this free-verse poem creates a sense of immediacy and intensity.
its uninterrupted flow of statements burst throughout the text block. they read as a litany
that swells toward intimacy. the primary presence in the poem is love, a love is so big,
even demons carry a map of heaven in their scars.

 

trauma is not sacred

violence is not special pain is not holy suffering does not make angels abuse

defines no one you are more than the things that hurt you you are more than

the people you have hurt do not make an altar to your woundedness do not

make a fetish out of mine a body belongs to no one a memory is not made to

be eaten does it titillate you to hear about assault if i told you my story would

you swallow it whole if i confessed my sins would you feed me to the beasts to

purge your own i will show you mine if you show me yours we have all seen

the darkness now give us the dawn tell me about the joy you keep in the hol-

low spaces between your bones tell me again how you laughed when you re-

alized that you were not wholly unlovable i’ll tell you again how i cried when my

best friend told me that I was not a bad person remember how we used to

count the lines on our palms when we were little how we used to try to read

the future for its gifts how we used to make lists of the things we would dream

of when finally we were free i will make you a list of the things i’m grateful

for i will sing you a litany of reasons to be alive i want to know the songs you

wake up for in the morning i want to marvel at the unbelievable graciousness

of your being i know that i am capable of pouring love like lavender oil into

your cupped palms there is forgiveness like honey pooled in the chambers of

our hearts you are the thing i am most grateful for all bodies know how to heal

themselves given enough time all demons carry a map of heaven in their scars

beneath the skin of every history of trauma

there is a love poem waiting deep below

 

By Kai Cheng Thom, from 44 Poems on Being with Each Other: A Poetry Unbound Collection.
Curated by Pádraig Ó Tuama.

Copyrighted material; for inspirational purposes only.
Learn more about Kai Cheng Thom.


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