A Poet Falls In Love

A Poet Falls in Love

It takes courage to live.

When the poem

becomes so transparent

you wonder if the reader

can see the wounds

inside your eyes ____

the sight that never heals.

Once I loved a man

who came to me in a dream

but my soul was divided

Once I loved another man

who wanted my heart

and was willing

to pay for it in gold.

I expected better from both:

( a poet falls in love to write about it )

I break the bindings

of my favorite poet’s books

not because I want to

but because of my need ____

( every poets wants too much )

I wanted time

so I refused to let my womb

be used for anything

except excuses.

I wanted love

but my public confessions

would always lay me down

into a bed of blaze ____

(men want admission not disclosure)

____ and if your lucky

the ghost of your lovers

won’t leave stones

in your heart

It seems I am always

rising from a war

crawling into the arms

of my youth.

It takes courage to live.

© Poem: Gesso Cocteau

© Art: Pete Berg