Exemptions Poem by Tsani Jones

Her exemptions hide
Behind ivory pillars
And miles of fence
Bound by heart string.

She's safe if she doesn't tell.
Shaky scales weigh
That hope of love if told,
The fear of lost hope if she doesn't,

But they are there

Like misguided sad children
Peering behind burnt umber windows
Waiting to flood the fields of a delicate face
In a sea of vermilion when she is alone.

The words remain unspoken
Like fresh baked bread withheld
From the hand of a starving boy,
And I smell them gently on her skin.

Maybe the lights will return
After the frost
When the pain of numbness bound
By frostbite subsides...

Her exemptions hide
A lifetime of joy, frozen
Thought without action,
Crystallized.

When spring comes
To the sweet tune
Of tulips blooming
My love will bring them to life.