Kerri Shying R - # 313 - The Provenance

Provenance

I haven’t used the filing cabinet

sweet oak  finely cut

since the incident

five years ago  when

he took my drafts and

stuffed them in the rubbish

I saw pages  specked

with tea leaves  stinking

of the sushi  he took for lunch

at work    after that I was

the squirrel  I held it all

inside my cheeks

and put on forty pounds

of firm hard flesh

a hundred  more

of inconsequential data

kept tchotchkes            the driftwood

round the hollow logs

of safety       so today

I climbed this tree

the sky all blues

my heart  fast-beating

kept the rhythm

still