Self-Portrait  by Nancy Schatz Alton

 

Would you believe me now

If I told you I was saved?

We all slow down for the wreckage

Crane our necks

Say, Did you see that?

 

I see inside the spiral that never

Unwinds until it does does rewind

All over the innocent

A victim of myself

The wreckage of a story

That spins like a top

Until it falls off the table

 

I’m the voice you hear at night

The one not like a mantra

The one you can’t sleep to

That cakes sleep in your eyes

From mornings to weary to rise unclean

My voice is back there on repeat

Unwind and never bathe

 

Did you ever feel saved?

Sprinkled with sugar & cinnamon

Bathed in butter

Next to a cup of tea?

 

Would you believe in me now

If I told you I was saved

That I left the light on for you

As a way to repave every time

I spun my wreckage

All over our kitchen table?

 

Here, give me your plate.

I’ve made you some toast  If you’ll

Give me some grace

I’ll pour you some tea.

 

*With homage and borrowed ideas/phrases to/from “The Other Self Goes Rogue” by Dean Rader