a poet's curse

i hesitate to claim i am a poet
for, when i whisper those words,
a challenge is sure to follow it

but my words are delicate
like moth's wings
flut ter ing

and to speak them so abruptly
so harshly
would

destroy them
so, without knowing it,
i am further condemned to

this

silence
that perpetuates
my poetness that claims

my heart
in the dark
that is my cage

and,
the light
this page

as i write
as i write
as i write