Author: Zoe Coats<\/p>\n
Email: zcoats1@aims.edu<\/p>\n
Submission:<\/p>\n
Inhale.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I could wax poetic<\/span><\/p>\n About how time flies<\/span><\/p>\n I’d write you a poem\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Stuffed with decadent lies<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Doubtless it would rhyme<\/span><\/p>\n And mimic Dr. Seuss<\/span><\/p>\n It would sound like a song<\/span><\/p>\n And taste like an excuse<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But what would be the point?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These words are a seeping syrup<\/span><\/p>\n That varnishes each limb<\/span><\/p>\n They coat your lips in sucrose<\/span><\/p>\n Tasting of<\/span><\/p>\n Crystalized intelligence<\/span><\/p>\n And honeyed pretense<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These words of wisdom<\/span><\/p>\n Are painful in their misuse<\/span><\/p>\n A mouthful of vestigial syllables<\/span><\/p>\n That must be plucked<\/span><\/p>\n Like the superfluous denticles of youth<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These words become\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An invasive species<\/span><\/p>\n Endangering our native thought.<\/span><\/p>\n Choking vines, they creep<\/span><\/p>\n They cut off all circulation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These words, a lush bouquet<\/span><\/p>\n Lavished upon a dead man<\/span><\/p>\n He spends them like dimes<\/span><\/p>\n Hoards them like gold;<\/span><\/p>\n Guilt speaks more<\/span><\/p>\n Than love ever could<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What if I just stopped?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And left a gaping hole<\/span><\/p>\n A no-man’s-land of diction<\/span><\/p>\n Devoid of respiration<\/span><\/p>\n Would you fill it to the brim<\/span><\/p>\n With your platitudes?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ll tell you what:<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s go see a play.<\/span><\/p>\n We know all the words<\/span><\/p>\n That we never say<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I choose to hear instead<\/span><\/p>\n The words that go unsaid.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They find me<\/span><\/p>\n In the space between<\/span><\/p>\n Each breath<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For ours is a pregnant pause<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Exhale.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Author: Zoe Coats Email: zcoats1@aims.edu Submission: Inhale. I could wax poetic About how time flies I’d write you a poem\u00a0 Stuffed with decadent lies Doubtless it would rhyme And mimic Dr. Seuss It would sound like a song And taste like an excuse But what would be the point? These words… <\/p>\n