I AM THE ANIMAL by Don Edwards

WELL DONE! Poetry

I AM THE ANIMAL by Don Edwards

I am the animal that knows that it knows

Closer still to grizzly than to Jesus,

The barrel chested creature

Strewing slobber and poetry throughout its den —

Tripping over the broken skulls of symbols,

Gnawing on the discarded femurs of cadence and rhyme.

I can think a bridge or posit a concept.

I can build a portfolio and retire to the islands.

I can kick you across the face and break your jaw.

I can steal your wife and make her forget who you are.

I can make children like any monkey

And claim them to be uniquely soulful.

But that won’t be enough —

Give me the ring for catharsis

So I can stay between the lines.

There I’ll lose the itch that followed me in.

Crawl on after if you wish

And take that if you dare to

And that and that as well.

Help make my knotted disposition unwind.

Yes I am the animal still acknowledging consequence

But often lacking regard,

The one who follows gods and women,

While sniffing the air for my next kill,

Then kneeling before a pool of water and stone altars

To get me through another day.

See me for what I am — reaching for heaven

While eating the dirt of the world I inhabit

And applying a healing violence

To calm my furry soul.

Don Edwards has previously published five books of poetry. Mr Edwards is also the founding member of True Gospel Bookstore which records his poems as songs which are available to hear on Spotify and all streaming services. Mr Edwards lives in Los Angeles.