No Body Poem by Frank Avon

I always wanted
to be
someone else
than me

to wear a different body
play a better role

not
this bit part
an extra
a noBody
but

Tyrone
Cornell
Tab
Clark Stone

It was not
to be
I fled
into ulcers
and elsewhere

seethed
creeping out
seeking
someOne

she
gave me my body
and took hers away
leaving me

bereft,
I fell back
into myself
crashed
crushed

left
to ulcers
again

until an internist
also a seer
taught me
how to breathe

and then
alone

on my own
bitterly
beckoning
anyOne:

all this
was Prologue
prolonged
about Body
bitter

until
one summer
someOne -

Act One

when I breathed
the breath of life
to become
a living whole