Here I Am

(c) 1996 Richard St. Clair

I don't wear my heart on my sleeve.
Instead:

I photograph it and print it on a button
which I pin to my lapel.

I'm going to be in your face
whether we like it or not.

Unconventional Wisdom

(c) 1996 Richard St. Clair

                 "Honor thy father and thy mother."
                     "Speak no ill of the dead."

If I were to follow these commands according to conventional wisdom,
I would die, for my survival is in my telling the truth, and no matter
how much it may hurt the memory of those who would rather not hear the
truth of what my parents did  or did not do to me, it is my duty to
myself to tell my story over again 'til the whole truth is known. I need
no conventional wisdom to gag and censor me, tell me what I have to say
must be said just so and so; there is nothing unreasonable when I insist
that the  truth I tell will not be correct until it is complete.  That
is the cornerstone and foundation of my recovery.

I am not powerless.

I have the power to tell the truth.

If the dead were ill in spirit while they lived,
It is not ill-speaking to say so of them now.

If my parents dishonored me through abuse and neglect,
it does not dishonor them for me to say it.

The truth transcends all commandments.

The truth transcends all.

check out his web page at http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/

submissions always welcome, encouraged, and recieved with happiness. mail me directly.

embies' asarian poetry archives / she's anon-4552@anon.twwells.com / last revised january 1, 1997

Here I Am

(c) 1996 Richard St. Clair

I don't wear my heart on my sleeve. Instead: I photograph it and print it on a button which I pin to my lapel. I'm going to be in your face whether we like it or not.

Unconventional Wisdom

(c) 1996 Richard St. Clair

check out his web page at http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/