Poem for Everyman
John Wood
I will present
you
Parts
Of
My
Self
Slowly
If you are patient and tender
I will open drawers
That mostly stay closed
And bring out places and people and things
Bits and pieces of three decades of my life
That have been grabbed off
In chunks
And found lying in my hands
They have eaten
Their way into my
Heart
Altogether - you or I will never see them
They are me
If you regard them lightly
Deny that they are important
Or worse, judge them
I will quietly, slowly
begin to wrap them up
In small pieces of velvet
Like worn silver and gold jewelry
Tuck them away
In a small wooden chest of drawers
And close.
Parts
Of
My
Self
Slowly
If you are patient and tender
I will open drawers
That mostly stay closed
And bring out places and people and things
Bits and pieces of three decades of my life
That have been grabbed off
In chunks
And found lying in my hands
They have eaten
Their way into my
Heart
Altogether - you or I will never see them
They are me
If you regard them lightly
Deny that they are important
Or worse, judge them
I will quietly, slowly
begin to wrap them up
In small pieces of velvet
Like worn silver and gold jewelry
Tuck them away
In a small wooden chest of drawers
And close.
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