The Acrobat Bawls
It pools in the bones, this kind of loneliness,
it feathers in darkness, it drips like gravel.
Go ahead, tell me you know all about me,
my narrow world, my glittering costume,
the absent net beneath my feet. I am all
too familiar, pitiful as pearls, tourist
in my own skin. Insist you've heard this story
before. You don't even know
my middle name. Surprised
to see me in such prosaic terms? Pretend
you could forget this moments—we know better,
this night already ripples in the breeze
& keeps a million strangers awake.
I offer myself to you, knowing you
will not resist my naked heart.