stitches

stitches

eyes sewed shut tight
by the  needle of belief

heaven all around
touching me
fingers
looking
goofy
musical
oof the wall
"raised in a barn"
a notch too high
delinquent

pearls
of salvation
this necklace

my joy
replaced
by stitches

ramping up
only blindness
i call colorful

this righteous rightness
of mine

nothing else
do i cherish so dearly

cast overboard
all family, friends
and strangers

that on my gravestone
my holy name
is inscribed,
"i am right"
and everyone else is wrong...

a life of death
herein lies

to have lived,
but not to have loved
at all

isn't it time
now
to remove
the stitches
and
notice

the stars bursting
in flame?

these dear dear hearts,
the tender dazzling reflection
of my own