Poem in 5 parts

 

i.

I am only one person

a door opening into mother wife daughter

sister grandmother writer  

a window broken a door unhinged

opening into madness

 

ii.

I am only one person

so I remind myself

in the dark hours before morning

but morning doesn’t come

and the day is full of madness

 

iii.

I am only one person

but sometimes I hear voices

they sing to me in whispers

beneath the murmur of the others

many voices many voices

 

iv.

I am only one person

and it’s all too much

I can’t breathe, the man said

death is layered over under life

and it’s all so much

 

v.

I am only one person

this is what they say when I reach out

hand so strong, they tell me

and aren’t we all

only one person