inky tears
I dip my pen to
this inner tongue
unrelenting and undignified in its silent protest
only the salty wet
snotty, sharp desperate breaths testify
of the storm of words tumbling over jagged edges
to mourn
a dream uttered before its time
but not supplanted
why all the protest about yesterday?
why the deferred lachrymal, swollen-faced meltdown?
when it’s all been undone
an echo
an aftershock
a child’s mimicry
i write with this unruly ink
to appease this annoying inner complaint
perhaps if i offer her some words
she’ll finally feel that she’s been heard
and we can sleep
this me and I
as one being until we rise
to pluck our far-fetched dream from ash
and dust it off for one more try
My name is Allyson Bantom. I write poetry and dream of justice while I study law.