Truth with Charity

PART I

I’ve got my truth.

You’ve got yours.

Between those

we have conceived an ugly baby.

PART II

Bukowski was reckless,

combative,

but said it best:

“Love breaks my bones

and I laugh.”

PART III

I need someone in my life to tell me to “stop.”

I can’t go on obsessing about finding that exact word,

flinging whole stacks of magazines to the floor,

jerking open drawers,

flipping over yesterday’s clothing

and newspapers I should have thrown out,

opening and closing doors,

scratching a mess into my hair,

reading Sylvia Plath poems over and over again.

Looking.  Groping.  Grinding my life away.

Obsession is a dreadful word,

but it’s close.

-- Mitchell Hegman