BardBliss: Choked

Standing at the edge of the cliff at our new
state park makes me feel all tipsy.

I've written about the throat chakra and my experiences working with that area. Have you had any experiences with this energy center? Have you ever felt as though something were stuck? You had something to express that wasn't coming out?

Choked

Like a rock, all you have
said and done to me sits in
my throat. Every time I swallow,
it is an effort to make those muscles work,
moving saliva, food, gulped-for-air
around the obstruction, through the small
alleys of space that remain.

And when I try to speak, words sit
under, waiting to be pushed, almost
burped up into my mouth where they are
finally free to escape. Some,
as they ascend with speed, become
embedded and only add to the boulder.

Tears, if they come, work like
acid, burning small streams,
leaving behind fossilized trails.
But I am in a drought and this life
giving water, this saving mixture
of air and hydrogen and salt, is rare.

So a mountain grows in my throat.
Piece by piece, it assembles itself
out of your hard and jagged gifts.
You stuffed them in my mouth from the time
you knew me, desperate to rid yourself
of their weight.

--christine c. reed