Feedback Welcome. Not sure if what I'm going for is clear
Four Stanzas On Broken Things
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At Walmart
They have clothes pre-ripped
Those denim jackets with the skin torn off, that used to be for punks and metalheads
Those jeans like you've been playing in the dirt, like those knees torn to shreds
Like you slipped
At work
We have a handmade sign
That we got from a guy downtown, that we hung on exposed brick
Which we got when we got the place, which we washed til it was shining and slick
Like a shrine
Here at home
I keep broken jewelry in jars
Bohemian stuff, stuff with black opal beneath an inscription and a charm
Stuff I have stuffed together and forgotten, which a TikTok witch said was a shield from harm
Like the stars
The other day
I found a bird's skull
It was laying low in my green grass, thin and thirsty and picked clean
I picked it up and turned it around, and didn't wash my hands and didn't wonder what it wanted to mean
Because I don't want these omens on my soul
If the world would just listen, I'd pick being dull
Posted Apr 6, 2026, 1:25 PM UTC