Inviolate

by Susie Berg

wind wind whisper
whisker whim whimsy whistle
willful

Out walking in the rain the old
man passes and I hear him
try to catch the words
his aphasic brain has released
into the butterfly net of his mind.

He’s a mystery
writer struck mute
by the enigma
of his own gray matter,
his stories lost the minute he pins them.

wisdom winter whiffle-ball
wilderness whiskey
whittle wimple wish
wishful

He repeats tones into his phone
so he can play them back,
wonder
whatever
they might
mean.

— from Juniper Volume 1, Issue 1