By Jay Besemer
the unknown has hold of me and its grip is strong as honey on the underside of a spoon
the unknown i mean is not the usual one the future the tomorrow of survival
but the past and what happened in the name of the name after mine and in the name of the name before mine
i do not know enough to speak i do not know enough to remain silent
there is a fear that holds me and it sounds like wind it sounds like katydids in catalpa
ah the tall grass of the days before i knew there was a before me
where do i live if there’s no home remaining
where do i live if the home i helped build can never be mine and the one i was born into never was
Jay Besemer, “the name before the name before mine.” Copyright © 2019 by Jay Besemer. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow.
Source: PoetryNow (2019)
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