Show and Tell

✦

show and tell is only show. 

show me feet gliding on water.

show me lips purging salmon in streams. 

show me wings waxed in sun, not to melt.

show me starbursts in maze, not flaring halls of flame.

these miracles you ask i cannot give.

this ginger you thread up throats i dare not show.

only tell in sugar bleeding down my nose. 

but let me tell you of tears joining sea.

tell you of moons lost in fists clenching bees.

tell you of dousing fever in my stomach with fire. 

tell you of scars scathed in thunderstorms at night of faith in fading when you wake again at dawn. 

let me tell you i won’t show what you can’t see.

i won’t be what you claim me to be. but i can tell you who i really am.  

if only you lend ears instead of hands.

✦