Likingkindness

 

what would you like whispered 

in your ear the rest of 

your however-long-it-is life

heart light like an open flower or fridge?

 

the secret to whispering in your own ear is

face the wind or leap off a cliff 

though it’s hard not to shout

 

may I know the difference between

balm and bomb

especially at the airport

 

may I know that

I’d be an ant or a colony of ants

if I felt more loved

 

imagine your own ear as a horse’s ear

long, labial, expressive, 

lilylike across from another ear 
on the distant side of the long head 

 

may I be imperfectible, blotchy

waxen as the inside of a horse’s lilylike ear

when it’s too hard I say

likingkindness, likingkindness to all things

 

which season feels the most shame

is it summer, autumn, fall or winter?

(see what I did there)?

 

spring when shame blooms

ants crawl around your heart

make you feel like

ants are crawling around your heart

 

if I were a horse, what I’d whisper is

you were never more brown than 

when jockeys told you that thing when you were a foal

you were never more brown than now