Names and Faces

Things / I am

Driven, yoked, lashed, lamed,

carved, cloaked, kept, claimed;

we are not and never named.

Things that lurk and listen lurch

and leaping make meals of us.

People who are not us

feeding and leading us and

beating us. Beating us.

Immaterial, fade away:

They get away from us.

What is a name?

A name is not us.

Masks / Faces

This face is not a stranger’s face,

to mask me or hide me, or mark

or divide me. It does not stay in place,

But remains on the lips and in the dark

to confide in. It cannot play games.

This face is not for falsehoods freely

to reside in, it does not shift blames

to other people; not who I can be,

It is who I am.