ERSATZ

that strange sad way you ache sometimes,
out of place where you belong,
a false creature –
it is not just you.

it is your skin holding tight to enfold you,
straining against your soul –
it is not just you.

it is your white bones curving to reach
what they cannot have, that red, red heart –
it is not just you.

it is your lovely, angry, human spark;
whatever that is, it is yours.
it is your parents’, your friends’, your lovers’ –
it is those strangers’ whose eyes you avoid –
ask them,
it is not just you.

you are the spark jumping from flames,
lone light, snatched fire,
but here is the secret:

we all are.