The Second

By Vanessa Piccirilli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is a thousand noble beasts
inhumanely caged and crying out
in a space too small, even for himself –

In time
he developed a face
to look like mine

He developed a machine
to herd his wild thoughts into
a single line, but it only
clashed and clanged – a thousand cymbals
delirious and disjointed

I know there is a rhythm,
a pattern in the silence
in-between

But he lives in a house
full of matted fur
and strange blood,
he has faced
the brink of extinction –

and he is afraid
he won’t have time to know what lived in him
before it passes away
________________________

Vanessa Piccirilli is a graduate of Roger Williams University with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and a lifelong passion for poetry. “I am particularly inspired by the works of Matt Rasmussen and Richard Brautigan, but also love curling up and sipping tea with Emily Dickenson.” — Vanessa