Altered Book Consciousness

Exposed,

the edge of disaster 

wolves eat dogs

and my shoes keep walking back to you.

Reality charting

family history.

If you loved him

(what’s a father for?)

there is room for you.

The plan:

behaving like adults.

-are we there yet?-

Life studies,

true enough,

nothing but the truth,

nothing to fear.

Used

to believe not to believe

the worst day of my life, so far.

The story of forgetting

this happy place.

All or nothing.

A greater good,

no hidden meanings.

You know better.

Fever, secret life,

the woman in the cloak.

She is me, 

who I was supposed to be.

Crazy woman blues.

How I got to be perfect.

My found friend, Ouende, makes altered books. She posted some photos of the books she has collected, chosen for their titles, and I made this poem out of them. The lines came together in a particular fashion, inspired by a young woman I know in her mid-20s. I bet a whole different poem could be composed of these same titles, with a whole different meaning - if someone had a mind to do such a thing.