I barter you with this ink!

This thing that dances,

At the brink of my lips

Sometimes it flashes blatantly in my eyes  

Until it’s vanquished, from the hush of my lies

And then it seeks, asking for words,

To melt into lines and embrace my voice,

But, the only distance they could travel was a blank sheet…

I apportion you with this paper,

I barter you with this ink

And, all there is and all there will be,

All the bottled wishes and engraved memories,

All that I know, all that I feel,

Every letter silenced with fright,

The world of words that I cannot summon

The lines that found refuge, in hiding

And the carriage of it has sought anonymity

I apportion you with this paper,

I barter you with this ink,

Do not call me a coward,

To have chosen inscription over voice,

For, voice can be buried beneath ignorance,

Or shushed by a lethal rejection,

Or be hushed by cacophony.

While to indite, is forever beyond

To ink, is to bestay for infinity!

So I apportion you with this paper,

I barter you with this ink!