riddle
© 1996 Devon Koren

i am the buckle girl with filament breath
a corduroy t-shirt, with zippers underneath
and you know i love you already, though i haven't said a word
a million names i wear, and one of those is yours

i am the candycane child, with sugar lips and twizzler kisses
lollipops exchanged for ice cream smiles
tonight where dirt creases nothing but paint in your hair
rugs and roses all thrown on the floor
yes, i miss jesus too

i am the tarot mistress
gypsy teeth, a pocketful of miracles
false remedies for medicine
nothing left but acid shadows
the windchime coins break silence and laugh
i found your voice in the everyman's briefcase
you really should get those straps tightened
you know how they're always slipping from your shoulders

i am a vein
in this leaf
on this tree
of life
where on some twig
of some branch
you're sleeping

i am the matchbox girl
with mismatched socks in the chest-of-drawers
broken eyeliner dribbling from the edges of my pen stick
snow brow, ashen laden, ice swimming
shhh...
this is the womb of silence
pour your scarred thoughts in
pull the melody of screaming words out
slap them on the back and say, "good morning!
welcome to wonderful dimension 3rd!"
(doesn't everybody love it here?)

i am the tire track daughter
highway weaned and taught to read
by roadsigns
life marked by route 66
every star of every shadow i have carried
i breathe
this asphalt moment
when all children wash the lime spittle from those delicate porcelain faces
and ask
"am i not me?"

i am your child
your brother girl
i am your father's cousin
i am the eve in every apple
and on every christmas eve
a snakecharm spells
BLUE

i am the ultimate paradox girl
and i touch every mad magician in this room
with every face i wear and every face
belongs to every you.