Many times in my life, fear has paralyzed me on my way to becoming. In order to counter my impulse to quit before obstacles gave way to disappointment; I learned to launch head first into uncertainty, so that my mind wouldn't have the chance to talk me out of dreaming. Inevitably, there are some things I wish I had stopped to consider before I took some of those leaps. But after feeling stuck for so long, not trying was a far worse outcome in my mind, than making a few mistakes along the way.

untitled

I have always been afraid

of eight hairy, fanged legs

crawling up my back

to nest in the dark wool of my hair

hitching a ride on my head

then crushed by the ceiling

of my car

leaving a murdered mass

of tentacles groping my fingers

when I scratched

the itch.

-qv

adjustment

sometimes life turns me upside down

it’s jagged ultimatums

its way of making me choose

which cloudy path to take

following parsed footprints

my toes stabbing the earth

in protest to haste

to follow this need I have

to nourish my nakedness

to still be yours, and not forgotten

but altogether and more accurately

my own.

-qv