Cradle
I tell him over and over again that there is nothing here to steal
that I am rummage sale leftovers
my head an old teapot,
my heart a sewing machine peddle that sticks in high gear sometimes.
He speaks in a tongue too sweet to be true
and too flawed to be any kind of believable liar.
He might get out of bed before noon this week.
He might not
But he’s been waiting up all night to place the morning on my fingertips.
He tells me about the gathering of Aborigine and Scotts and Welshmen
in his blood
they keep each other calm he says
that he only breaks things to practice apologies.
He picked up my grandfather’s voice box at the goodwill
how it got so far away I still don’t know
but he winds and opens his jaw for me each night
Parcel posts one of the few things he owns on each serenaded note
This alone makes him the cradle of my most recent prayers
the wick I light and beg blessing for
bargain with deities-that this breath isn’t for me-its for him.
He tells me I am worth all of the rain coming thru his ceiling
that he is from an island of prisoners
that small spaces don’t make him nervous
it’s the big ones that bounce his legs and lights cigarettes
like the one between us.
I have mailed him all the spoons in my kitchen
He will drain an ocean he says to get to me
bring me the whole thing in a jar he kept in his pocket for just this occasion.
Bio:
Rachel Wiley is a native of Columbus, OH. She graduated from Capital
University in 2006 with a degree in Theatre Studies.
Rachel was the 2010 Writers’ Block Co-Grand Slam Champ with Ethan
Rivera and a member of the 2010 Writers’ Block Rust Belt and National
Poetry Slam Teams. She was a 2010 Rust belt Individual Finalist
Rachel represented Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam in the Women of the
World Poetry Slam 2011 where she was the 4th place finalist.
She released her first chapbook The Ballad of SweetWhatser Name in
October 2009 and her second, Misery Loves Backup Dancers in January
2011. She will be releasing her first CD All of the Spoons in My
Kitchen very soon.
Website: http://sweetwhatsername.
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