With Silence Instead

There's a certain staccato hiccup
Pickup
Stick-up
That happens
That makes one pause and wonder
Under
What circumstance would this all make sense
And adopt it

And adopt some children to make it all make
Sense-Lest
We have to continue our charade
To prove the worthiness of our non-breeding bodies
Taking up space and heat

We are useless and feel it in our aging gametes

We move fast to forget
We find other lost things to nurture:
3-legged cats, divorcees, widows and parts of ourselves and others
That have been abandoned

We fill in the blanks
But still live in the column on the side of the page

We are the last ones
Chosen
In confusion
After all
You might still guess right

Towels thrown in
We think we don't care anymore
Yet there's still a sting sometimes
A soft spot that still pulses
So tiny and fragile you must not touch it

Caress with your eyes
Let your tongue slide gently around the words
Hold it with silence instead.