Legacy: Block

If I was forced to write a poem about you

I’d sit staring and startled at a blank piece of paper.

You see, I’ve been going through a bout of bad writer’s block,

Where my tongue seems to be stuck between my teeth

Fetching the scattered words

Lost between bone and gum.

It’s not that I haven’t any feelings for you,

Because I do,

And they’re intense and discombobulating

And real.

But right now there aren’t any real words

That I can find to pinpoint my pleasure or pain

When it comes to you.

Right now everything is static

Like your hand in mine

Or the smell of your skin;

Right now, my body is charged and awake

But paralyzed—and instead of the loss

Of sensation in my legs

I’ve lost the feeling in my tongue.

I’ve lost my ability with analogy and metaphor

Because I can’t seem to compare these feelings to others.

I’ve lost my power to place together pretty words,

Because my brain is off looking for prettier ones

To describe its feelings for you.