Dan Williams

Dirty Shirt

 

When did this wind start, strong enough to blow away inhibitions

left farther behind with every step you take.

Where was this betrayal seeded?

Had to be close enough to inflict that hurt,

make no mistake about that.

Though in many ways too many folks, confident enough in their denial

of those denials; yet some above may have survived;

Too few remained to describe us

with the dirt of this fiction still between our toes,

or tell the ones with backs bent from lifting too much weight,

or tell them why the blue collar is not the dirtiest part of the shirt.

We fell down too repeatedly and premature

asking can you realize happiness without first experiencing hurt?

When did this wind start?