Do you have anything
you ask, because you have
everything and nothing
or no one, not even a man
like me, will destroy that;
because I am the germ
of what you fear
of finding in yourself;
because I am a bug
to be avoided by any means—
an inconsequential body;
because whatever music my
buggy body makes is a simple
score for the bodies that really matter;
because your life matters
more than mine, you could stomp me
and who would care; because you've
done this before; because I've done this
more times than I can count;
because our bodies are records
of where we've been; because
you can see the imperfections—
mole, scar, bruise; because
our bodies are prone
to destruction; because
when a body burns it can mean
something has gone wrong;
because something is wrong
with your memory and isn't that
a symptom of something—
you've forgotten my name,
you want to stick to user-
names, you always come back;
because I always stammer when you ask,
because you know I'll let you back in.
Copyright Credit: Tommye Blount, "Do you have anything" from Fantasia for the Man in Blue. Copyright © 2020 by Tommye Blount. Reprinted by permission of Four Way Books, www.fourwaybooks.com.
Source: Fantasia for the Man in Blue (Four Way Books, 2020)