Broken Poem

#12/30

I’m trying to tell you something important

But this poem is broken.

I took it apart and spread the pieces

On my kitchen table: the synonyms, the rhythm,

A clear message and some well-meaning passion.

All fragments accounted for, all in working condition

But they won’t move together, won’t connect like

Cogs in a clock, won’t sound the alarm I so urgently need.

I’m straining to share a heavy, untold story

But my sentences are no longer logical.

I’ve used dictionaries and thesauruses, peer review

And scribbled revisions but I still can’t form

Something that makes sense.

So I’m offering these pieces, carefully preserved,

In hopes that some poetic mechanic

Will hear the clanking of my efforts to put

Them back together and provide the right device

Or a detailed instruction manual, something

That will empower me to get these oppressive

Tales off of my chest and out to the audience

Where they belong.