Southern Man
I adore you with my dog heart.
And my other heart beats a little slower for that.
I steal from you this cut-glass diamond.
This hard, invisible kiss.
And I know full well it is thievery.
I stole a knife when I was a child,
Cut my name into the tiles on a bathroom floor.
I was caught with the knife, but not for the name.
What I wrote, nobody recognised.
We are what the world sees, after all.
But the world turns its face away most of the time,
Perhaps in kindness.
I have heard often enough:
“You are perfect just the way you are”.
I see them look through me,
And I do not want to laugh at them.
But, you..
You flush me from my hiding place -
Sometimes with a blow, sometimes a bait.
I love you with my dog heart,
And my other heart can wait. |