The Bottom of the Well
what of
the cuts
too deep
and dark
to bleed
the ocean
spills over
the edge
sizzling in
the sun
smoke lifts
and drifts
into the ether
catching in the trees
of Tennessee
covering the mountains
in snow
and each stone
in the riverbed
turns
over
with nothing
to say
footprints
in the dirt
where someone else’s
been
it’s autumn already
and i haven’t
said goodbye
but you left me
anyway
keep playing the same
songs
even if the new ones
play
all the rooms are empty
but the surface of things
are filled and overflowing
and i stand in the middle
of grocery stores
staring up at shelves
never reaching
what’s in the back
linger a little longer
in the rose garden
rows of wrapped petals
they’ve been cut
too
wish i coulda
saved ‘em all
i save their memory
in my mind
going back in time
to the place i was born
to the shadow of someone
on the ground
who cannot
bleed
TL