Parlor Games (Repost from June 2022)

I wish you heard me

in the rain or the wind,

then you would know grief

or at least the sound of my name.

You don’t remember me

beyond shadows and doorways,

because you walk through me

all the time.

I try to explain pain

in hand gestures and mime expressions,

but you tell me you don’t do parlor games

then play tic tac toe along spine.

My ribcage shakes from Rubik heart

shifting and changing-

trying to make an origami bird from my heart.

I wish

you heard me.

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