straddling words

By Ed Higgins

--

we all do it, of course

but poets especially:

like bareback bull riders

bone-broken astride

the arching back

words buck, rear, kick–

spin and twist to throw

the writer off the page

a severe arse ache

trying to pound

words creatively

out of the brain’s chute

of self-mutilation

onto the blank page

looking for control

still mounted while

constantly off balance

mostly words

never quite manage

to fully hold on

to not fall off

into language’s

dust-filled arena

the straddling ends

intentionally

or not

trying to make sense

of the world’s unmanageable

tragic ride