After it ended badly it got so much better
which took a while of course but still
he grew so tender & I so grateful
which maybe tells you something about how it was
I'm trying to tell you I know you
have staggered wept spiraled through a long room
banging your head against it holding crushed
bird skulls in your hands your many hearts unstrung
unable to play a note their wood still beautiful
& carved so elaborately maybe a collector would want them
stupid collectors always preserving & never breaking open
the jars so everyone starves while admiring the view
you don't own anyone everything will be taken from you
go ahead & eat this poem please it will help

About this poem
"I continue to be drawn back to the spirit of the sonnet, especially its 14-line limit, which encourages the writer to get something meaningful said before the poem is over. Also, it can fit on a cocktail napkin, should the writer find herself with inspiration but no paper."
-Kim Addonizio

About Kim Addonizio
Kim Addonizio is the author of "My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits" (Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2014), with woodcuts by Charles D. Jones. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day[at]poets.org.


(c) 2016 Kim Addonizio. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate