Liars

in the time of writing poems

the words said no

they said

you have not earned us

you have not bled us from your fingertips

until your heart is a wrung-out rag

you have not wept

no stone has lodged itself in your intestines

cold lurking with the promise of pain

we owe you nothing

said the words

not knowing how they implicate themselves

liars every one

for here is the poem

that they

refused

to write

(April 2022)