The pain

I want to feel safe inside my skin.
but these days are like nights
and these wrongs feel polite
and the driest tongue on a sharpened cheek
is like lifting weights because it helps me sleep.

I want to feel whole
and I want to go home
and I want to know the difference
between right and mistakes.
I want to know the difference between
right and mistakes.

I want to feel safe inside my skin.
like a habit relaxes the stresses within.
Miles of thoughts laid out in a mind
so sleeping is substitute for counting the time.
Recessions of days pan out like a play
like a movie with nothing brilliant to say.

I want to feel whole
and I want to go home
and I want to know the difference
between right and mistakes.

There've been pictures long before
cameras and pin ups went to men at war.
There have been pictures in the midnight sky
as constellations and artists begin to collide.

I want to feel whole.