Poetry Drawer: The Worlds in Your Words: Self-Absorption by Michael Roque

The Worlds in Your Words

There’s a world in the word “I”,
which is you,
a universe whizzing with activity,
a wild ride no one will ever afford lifetime admission to

There’s a world in the word “forgot”,
which is us… or me.
Our shared yesterdays reduced to stacks of files
shredded to make room in a limitless cabinet.

“I changed my mind.”
A silent truth unspoken
that would have been such a sweet sentence
to hear you sound out.

Self-Absorption

Self-absorption
sits on top of the senses,
cutting circulation off to clear thoughts.
Delusion straddles a reliable horse ridden rugged,
strains four legs forward toward dreams, things—
wants.

Stomps his hooves,
tosses the head.
Neighs, blows, snorts—
for food, for rest—
but is spurred to speed up.

Self-absorption—
Me, me, I, I on the mind,
the thoughts it thinks—
thoughts so loud they drown out
the heat, the sweat on the brow,
the pet horse’s needs.

Drags his hooves,
hangs the head.
Not a neigh, blow or snort
for food, for rest it needs—
just digging, skin-scraping spurs shrieking for speed.

Outside self-absorption,
the mind boiling over with “Me”s and “I”s—
the faithful horse dies.
Now, two legs untrained,
find loneliness on an isolated plain.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Michael Roque discovered his love for poetry and prose amid friends on the bleachers of Pasadena City College. Now he currently lives outside of the US and is being inspired by the world around him. His poems have been published by literary Magazines like Aurora Quarterly, Veridian Review, and Cascade Journal. 

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