Clothesline

Marilyn Maciel

I
you
us
them
those people
wouldn’t it be lovely if one could
live
in a constant state
of we?
some of the most
commonplace
words can be some of the biggest
dividers:
they?
what if there was
no they ?
what if there
was only
us ?
if words could be seen as they floated out of our mouths would we feel no
shame
as they passed beyond
our lips?
if we were to string
our words
on a communal clothesline
would we feel proud
as our thoughts
flapped in the
breeze?