(recording available: a-frayed-knot.mp3)
read on for the text…
i met you in a dream and said you were real
we argued over it, i remember
all loud voices and sharp gesticulations
cutting words, rasping breaths
that occasionally caught skin
thorns, laced with honey
quiet murmurs as we plucked them
from one another in aftermath
every wince, a promise
every sigh, a regret
roses in the garden, neighbors
thrown against one another
by the wind
i met you in a dream and said you were real
we laughed over it, i remember
all helpless shaking and merriment
balmy warmth of sharing
that occasionally singed
sweet embers, dusky
giggling, we brushed them
off one another in afterglow
every touch, a hope
every smile, an echo
feathers on the wind, companions
buffeted and bouncing
by life
i met you in a dream and said you were real
we wept over it, i remember
all keening sorrow and despair
hands reaching but
passing through
sweet longing, unmet
groaning, we knew hopelessness
in the stretched silence
every inch, a universe
ever mile, an eternity
whispers in the void, passing
spun into stardust
by time
i met you in a dream and said you were real
i’m not sure you answered or i’d remember it
a thorn, a joke, a sadness
threads of possibility on a loom
in an empty house
they flutter in the wind and
whisper quiet but certain
certain as only severed can be
no longer gordian
but a frayed knot
i met you in a dream and said you were real
but i am a frayed knot