Now I'M the One Who Must Go
after all these I’m the one who must leave
I’m the one who must find the door
after your howling gales
after turning this heart into a mudroom cluttered
with scratchy bites I’m the one who must go
with nothing—with only my pajamas on
the judge says for the sake of the children
I’m the one who must leave from my many years
of labor live in a frozen car like one facing expulsion
and with a heart muffled and breath stabbed I must leave
like nature rips apart the moon from the sun and night
from day as if to wave off stiff icy mitts and look forward
to spring when you can’t fold winter under your armpit
now I’m the one who must leave
from everything, since everything
remains a testimony of how dangerous I could be
is it true that when love begins to sicken
it speaks in many tongues for the judge to believe
and the people around become lunatics with crab heads
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