Misconceptions..!

The very last thing someone said to me once was
that I was made up of too many metaphors
to be honest with myself.

To that person, I want to say
that my tongue is the strongest muscle in my body
but you should be grateful
it can’t yet lift the few choice metaphors
I have for you out of my mouth.

What I will say, though, is that you have me all wrong.
I am not made up of words, far from it.
You could crack my spine open like a book
but find no pages to read, only stomach lining
and contrary to your belief,
I do not bleed ink,
I just bleed and my blood runs as red as any girl
who reads only Strong Fitness magazines.
I, in fact, read Strong Fitness magazines
and there is nothing poetic about the way the first metaphors
I can think of all have to do with violence,
but that doesn’t mean they aren’t honest. See,
there are still things that leave my voice in tatters
to the point where I cannot mention them unless
in metaphor, but you should know I refuse
to make that who I am.

I can still appreciate a sunset in silence,
find more love in clasped hands than any poem
and there are still moments that make easy work
of anything I could ever write,
leaving all of my words on the cutting room floor.

So the next time I say something about the way
your mouth opens into a smile like a seaport welcoming
her fleet home, know that I do not speak
to have the words coat my tongue
as if they were cough medicine to fix an itch in my throat.

I am not sick and writing is not the cure,
just one more way for me to tell you
that I hope you smile more often,
because each one is bigger and more powerful than the last.