Nobody Comes Up Empty Handed

 

I was

Dreaming of Death

Of the way He’s feared

Far worse than grasping for

Strands of merry laughter

In the silky wind

And coming up

Empty handed

I was dreading

Those curious glances

That awkward tangible silence

After I tripped

In an embarrassing social context

And grasped for the fabric of sky—

Steady myself

Perhaps

And coming up

Empty handed

Though not quite

Face, meet Earth.

Earth meet Nobody

For Nobody catches me

Nobody carries me

From obscurity to infamy

Nobody sews me a cloth of shadows

Hides me in masterful disguise

Caps the cesspit of indescribable shame

Spewing forth out of me

For I have come up empty handed