What Is It Exactly That You’ve Done

the inner rage

has bowed out

to no applause

just the puzzled look

the sideways glance

what is it exactly

that you’ve done

beginnings now read

as the end

dawn is dusk and dusk

is dawn again

how can emptiness

have such weight

a void carried

between the ribs

and the soul

a physical burden

all day and all of the night

Mama take this page off of me

I don’t need it anymore

there’s nothing left

nothing left to say

as the darkness steals away

the remnants of our days

the scraps untouched

and uneaten snatched

from the edges of the plate

Mama put this pain in the ground

I can’t bear it anymore

that long black cloud is coming down

I feel like I’m knockin on heaven’s door

dressed in woolens

woolens on the shore

wading trepidatiously

into the arms of a welcoming sea

fistfuls of sand

all that remain

filling my pockets

muffling the sounds

of change

what is it exactly that you’ve done

what is it exactly

that holds up to the scrutiny of the sun

or the moon’s languid glance

you sing a little

and on occasion

you’ve been known to dance

but what does it matter

only the fool waits listlessly

in the wings

to escort you on your journey

Mama take this badge off of me

I can’t use it anymore

it’s getting dark too dark to see

I fell like I’m knockin on heaven’s door

knock knock knockin on heaven’s door

knock knock knockin on heaven’s door

Stephen Zeifman