When I Dance Now

All of those wasted hours

pretending to be free

Trying to unscrew your head from your heart

to pry your spirit from 

your flesh like some

slimy oyster  

pearls to swine

do you know-you must know-how ridiculous you look

dancing under the weight of all those chains

drowning out your practiced justifications  

with the jangling 

I don’t remember when

but some time past I broke wide open

watched my courage bleed down the drain  

the water hot as hell  

scoured in Pilates basin  

begging mercy  

and that is how I found it

eyes stinging ref

that is how I was found

and when I dance now I dance naked

as David

broken as David

beloved

free