rotten

rotten down to the bottom

the roots the core

the part where I touch the earth

penetrate with each pounding step

the echoing vibes doing nothing

other than change everything

my ambition is to be your poet

the one you turn to in your most lost times

the times when you want nothing more

than a voice that will pick you up

like an over-tired toddler

hoist you up gently

put your grumbling tummy

against the warm pulse of their heart

your cheek pressed bouncing on their shoulder

whispering to you in your tiny reddened ear

how everything will be alright

how that feeling we’re all feeling will eventually subside

how it all really will be alright

but I am not that man

giant though I am

I have to bounce you bounce you

make you punch yourself in the face

choke your wrists with my fists

and make you slap

saying, “Why do you keep hitting yourself?!”

shake you shake you shake shake shake

you like a doll with a loose head

with a bad habit like mine

of constantly ceaselessly

taking things