BREAKING by Karen Schubert "When I knocked the coffee...

BREAKING
by Karen Schubert

"When I knocked the coffee...

BREAKING

by Karen Schubert

"When I knocked the coffee cup

from its ledge, and it broke

into the shower, surrounding

my feet with sharp pottery

slipping along in the currents,

I felt the way

I'm always breaking

something, a hand-thrown

mug, a path, a promise.

This life requires a map

I can't find, a gentleness

I can't feel, a surety I know

only in these edges that keep me

from stepping on a mess

of my own making.

Such a gift

we have in the consent of others,

the minutes they give

us, I offer

no refund, only lie quiet

in the whole of it, saying,

don't believe I think I know,

only see me now, bending

to pick up what is too small.

Don't walk too close, unless

you are willing to mix

your blood with mine."