I am embryonic fluid and darkness
dancin’ to the oldies. I am ham and eggs and sperm. I am fetus,
feel me kick. I am a Spielbergian blast of white light and a slap on
the bottom. I’m a breast full of milk and a mouth chugging on a
nipple like it was a can of Carnation. I’m a diaper sloshing with
smelly secrets.
I’m a sparkling smile in my father’s
eyes and a weary grin on my mother’s lips. I’m a puppy licking
your face. I’m a cat scratch and a million meows. I’m a bump
from a bang on the back hanging over your father’s shoulder. I am
the Cat in the Hat. I am Sam, I am.
I’m a training bra and an athletic
supporter. I’m school, summer vacations and swimming. I’m
puberty, pimples and piano lessons. I’m a girl’s giggle and a
boy’s bashfulness on a first date. I’m the power of love and the
friction of sex. I’m X-rated. I’m out of gas on a dark country
road with a girl who is not amused and who has some big brothers
who’ll want to talk to me later. I’m straight as an arrow. I’m
gay as a blade.
I’m the prayer in the dark that seems
to cure cancer. I’m a nun kneeling, a preacher praying and a
sinner straying. I’m a Buddhist, a Muslim and a Methodist. I’m
black, white, red and yellow with Kodacolor chromosomes. I’m the
universal soldier dying for the sins of his leaders. And I’m the
innocent caught dead in the middle.
I’m Christmas, Easter and the Year of
the Dog. I’m Passover and Palm Sunday. I’m a family holiday
sitting all alone in front of festive old movies on TV and becoming
more suicidal by the minute. I’m a family holiday with all your
relatives fighting the same fights since childhood, getting a knot in
your stomach, big as a beer pretzel, and becoming more suicidal by
the minute. I am hope and hype, delight and despair all sitting in
your favorite chair.
I’m a whiff of scandal and the rot of
rumor. I am gossip in the gutter, the tabloid of the town with a
tongue like butter. I’m fame and I’m shame. I’m game and I’m
to blame. I’m shy and I could just die. All I do is cry.
I’m a killer’s heartfelt apology
after he’s been caught and convicted, when before he was bragging
about it. I’m a politician’s promises to each different interest
group, regardless of the contradictions and consequences.
I’m sitting on the porch in the
summer watching the girls go buy something at the store
next door. I’m a day on the river in
dappled sunshine and rippled shade. I’m the ocean with its
ceaseless pounding of eternity, crashing across continents and the
centuries. I’m ebb. I’m floe. I’m a cup of joe.
I’m a stroll in Paris past
pickpockets and prostitutes to see the Moulin Rouge. I’m a walk
around London under smudged skies and through diesel fumes, enjoying
myself immensely.
I’m love and marriage, a horse and
miscarriage. I’m the cream, you’re the top. I’m holding hands
in the dark as you watch your children sleeping. I’m the slamming
of the door, the meals in front of the TV and the fights over who’s
to blame for the way the kids turned out.
I’m not good for me. I’m someone who should have known better. I’m the wife who doesn’t want her husband anymore. I’m the husband who laughs while his wife weeps. I am anger, abuse and anchovies. I’m hate, hurt and humidity. I am cruelty and kindness, pity and punching, irony and ironing. I am the refuge of chocolate.
I am food that’s no good, yet sooo
good. I’m the 50th anniversary of a couple who haven’t
spoken for the last 40 years. I’m taking care of your parents like
they took care of you when you were a child. I’m operations,
nursing homes, life support and dreaded phone calls after midnight.
I’m a limited warranty on your body.
I’m cancer, cardiac arrest and crossword puzzles in your hospital
bed. I’m someone who stopped caring enough to send the very best.
I AM LIFE, full of fury, fright, fun,
frustration, futility, fat and fate. THEN…I am death.
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