trauma

Sensitive Subject

Charles B. Snoad

I want to love
a brave woman
a smart woman
a playful woman

I want to embrace
the universe
of joy and sorrow
alive and well
within the soul
of a single woman

but my body is afraid
of being
hurt again

after years of writing
about suffering
and surviving trauma

my body remains
a sensitive subject

Blank Sage

Charles B. Snoad

burn all
the books
I wrote
on a whim
and a prayer

I am nothing
more than
a blank sage

tired of being
human

tired of sitting
alone
with my thoughts

to the one
who hurt me
I say:

hold this poem
near an open flame
catch your soul on fire