Before I’d gained the wisdom to understand

I had you there to stand and speak for me.

To back me up when my spine

Would bend or bow.

And giving me the blessing

To become as I believe

Offered to me

Something high above all else.

In your absence

There is nothing

But the sounds of air escaping

Through the splitting cracks

That work their way along my skull.

You were never the enemy

I ran with eyes twisted shut

Away from the light,

And denied myself your pleasure.

New Orleans sat happily in Spring

As all about her

The howling of children

And clarity of day

Were frozen in place, at will.

Magnificent rage.