What We Need

“You know what we need”, she said,

lazily pointing the knife in my direction

from where she had been

chopping celery at the counter. 

It could have been a new shower curtain

or a dozen eggs. 

 

But I couldn’t hear her over all the static.

This static that fills my head like 1,000 television sets

tuned to dead stations. 

Their volume turned up to 11. 

This static that blows away

any creative thought

like a wisp of smoke. 

 

It could have been a trip

to some tropical paradise

where we could make love

 on empty beaches of endless sand

and the nights are filled with native rhythms

and the scent of exotic flowers. 

 

But I couldn’t see her through all this light. 

This blinding white light

that gets under your fingernails

and wipes away every color and shape. 

The static and the light

that make me want to explode

out of my skin

and causes an aching

like a full body migraine.

 

What we need is to hold onto imagination

and inspiration

that will make a rainbow of color

spout from our heads instead of this

soot spewing chimney we trail behind us

as we walk dazedly through our lives. 

 

What we need is to let go of all our burdens,

abandonment issues, trust conflicts,

clinical depression

and faithlessness in life. 

 

What we need is to let go of our fear,

our numbness

and the belief that to do so is too hard. 

 

What we need is to stop saying nothing too loudly

and start saying something softly. 

Words of love,

empathy, compassion and kindness. 

 

What we need is to stop the static and the light

from keeping us truly alive.

 

“You know what we need”, she said,

lazily pointing the knife in my direction

from where she had been

chopping celery at the counter. 

 

“What’s that, hon”?