Diary

Pages I can't unwrite

My pen tried to find the words

to describe the bittersweet flavor of wine

resting on my burnt tongue

but they were forgotten,

stuck between gritty teeth and smooth skin.

I looked for the emotion

behind the loss of my beloved

older sister but how

can you describe a scent

or the barest turn of light?

My lifeline threads through the dogeared copy

of my mother’s New Testament

tracking my birth and baptism

and other such holy endeavors.

It does not however,

take note of a stolen first kiss

underneath the ripped net of a

rusted basketball hoop or the

sweet stickiness of sweat

when our fingers interlaced. These moments

were pressed in loose pages

kept between mattresses.

I want to say that I am more than childish cursive

Unraveling down the page

but I have nothing more to offer

than a mound of salt

and the ripped pages of a girl’s diary

as evidence of days that cannot be unwritten.

Reviews

[Ruth]

This is excellent. It gives so much emotion within and makes the reader think. The flow is wonderfully done and visuals are potent and poignant :)