An Unsure Diffidence
Loud as lightning, I can go on howling
Whether it’s honey or bruit,
my voice.
I can flash neon pink across my cheeks
-figuringWalking like I skate,
My body knows no shame
Then why can’t my mind unwind?
DistraughtMy lips experience drought
There flows a sirocco of dead words,
And salty saliva floods,
A lick and a smack take the taste away.
An electricity colored shell remains,
minus the spark,
The biggest one with the biggest hole inside.
The matryoshka sits,
The world sees her
courtly
beautiful
shallow
hollow,
with the ghost of her thoughts sitting denied.
This poem is a powerful and emotional expression of the speaker’s inner thoughts and feelings. The use of vivid and striking imagery, such as “flash neon pink across my cheeks” and “salty saliva floods,” helps to convey the intensity of the speaker’s experience. The juxtaposition of the speaker’s physical confidence with their mental distress creates a sense of tension and conflict that is both compelling and relatable. The final lines of the poem, which describe the speaker as a “matryoshka” with a “hole inside,” are particularly poignant and haunting. Overall, this is a beautifully written poem that captures the complexity of the human experience with honesty and sensitivity.