Dear Brother,

/ Issue 15.2 /

I too
am still learning to unlearn
……..the childhood third-degree burn,

the jagged breath, the relative
……..safety of contempt,
the rush to batten down the hatches,
….the need to hoard

the book of matches. I too
……..am still learning to unlearn
the book that turns to ashes,
the lie that serves no purpose, the lie
….that swears that you

are worthless. I too am still learning
….to unlearn the curse of the certain,
to reverse the locked and loaded,
to suspend the assumption
….of the ugly motive,
the corrupt and the corroded.
….I too am still learning

….to unlearn the wrought iron word,
and the rock solid cure.
……..My brother, in the mirror
of the triggered, in the glass
….of the imprisoned in the stories
of reflection

are the remnant of revision,
……..are the cousins of correction,
….are the sages and the saplings
and the burning of the learnings,
are the blessings
….of the waters, are the curtains
…………slowly parting,
……..are the rivers
….in their turning,
……..are the ripples of unlearning.

Wendy Videlock

Wendy Videlock

Wendy Videlock lives on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies.Her work appears widely, most notably in Hudson Review, Best American Poetry, Hopkins Review, Rattle, Oprah Magazine, and other venues. Her upcoming collection of essays and prosimetra, The Poetic Imaginarium: A Worthy Difficulty, (Lithic Press) and a new collection of poems, Wise to the West, (Able Muse Press) will both appear in 2022. To learn more visit: https://wendy-videlock.constantcontactsites.com/
Wendy Videlock

Also by Wendy Videlock (see all)

Author: Wendy Videlock

Wendy Videlock lives on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies. Her work appears widely, most notably in Hudson Review, Best American Poetry, Hopkins Review, Rattle, Oprah Magazine, and other venues. Her upcoming collection of essays and prosimetra, The Poetic Imaginarium: A Worthy Difficulty, (Lithic Press) and a new collection of poems, Wise to the West, (Able Muse Press) will both appear in 2022. To learn more visit: https://wendy-videlock.constantcontactsites.com/