Permission to Speak

Words
Words were the only things you would accept
and so I mined words from every corner of my being.
I poured a flood of words at your feet
and then warmed them with more words
like glowing embers
like hope
I threw words in the air like colour,
red as the blood in my veins,
red as the blood I would give you
if you would ask it of me.
red as the dawn that won't be denied
and red as the haze before my eyes

Now
The embers have burned out.
the flood has turned into poison mud
clogged with the carcasses
of words that died of heartbreak
bloodless and cold.

And you stand rooted
in a murk of my making.
What can I say to you
when there is nothing left of paradise
 in my song
what can I give you
when all the words have grown empty
as hollow hope

I am sorry
My words are hubris
My flaw is innocence
What can I give you now?