NEPHART.COM

Someone handed me a mike
for some reason
it looked like a spike

Maybe nervousness took over
as I stood there
a hopeless lover

a poet born from broken hearts
still learning
how to put the pieces together

The audience waited for me to recite
my long pauses
felt like days would soon turn to night

My mind whispered low

This is your battle
this is your fight
no escape from the audience sight

so make your heart light
and let your poetry take flight

And so I spoke

Millions of stars fall from the sky
but rarely one or two
catch the earth’s eye

Millions of souls I’ve crossed paths with
under the same vast indifferent sky

but you were the only one
for whom I let my walls run dry

the only one
I trusted with the reason why

the only one
I chose without asking goodbye

to exchange my heart with
no question no reply

Then thunderous applause
broke like a wave against my ears

even after the words had passed
even as I walked off the stage

The claps are temporary
I know

but I am happy 

I freed the poem

from its emotional cage

my heart quietly

gave justice 
to that wounded page

gave justice

to that wounded page