The Sik (In His Words) Poem by Bernadette Hall

I buy the silk
for $45.00 from a friend
we are already working on an ending

*
we meet every day
starting slowly
startling under the silk

*
she is already taking all the blame
breathing I love you I love you
in the rehearsal space

*
we spend hours & hours
getting in & out of the heart
I would like to do something else

*
I feel like an intruder
the words are following me around
her breast is a simple offering

*
I shake her shoulders
to produce a different sound
the sound of water falling

*
I have thrown the silk
for over an hour my arms
break the rhythm of my voice

*
we never know
if our hands might slip apart
I have stopped listening to her

*
how stumbly our lives are
& violence the quickest way
to stop the pain

*
I would like to expand
on the concept of pain
the specific degrees of pain

*
where there is no song
there is no pain
& no happiness

*
I am angry
I cry all night
what are you accusing me of?

*
the moon is in Scorpio
my toes move
my tears are familiar

*
we have blocked the final scene
it flows up into the heaters
in the roof

*
a man & a woman
are speaking over a corpse
they fold up the silk like washing