Jack Forbes

Stranger within —

Which one is me?

will winter win and hold me rigid,
or perhaps I’ll be warm and soft
Or maybe yet

Searing torrents

will spew forth in

Sudden acts.

The chemistry of

My being has not been studied yet.
Strange elements

Undiscovered

Coffined out of sight while still alive
Suffocating,

entombed,

but not yet dead.

Authentic life

Demands

That I unveil myself —

But not in some public place
Classified and put in a tidy box of
stereotyped assumptions

By whisperers, hands over mouths,
head turned aside to cover

their foul breath.

I will chip ice away with my own
Chisel

Peeling off the armor

Upon my chosen ground

Feeling the heat of unity and
Lusty life

as it should be

Reflected in my own

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