I strum my ukulele as if it was my tongue; my
Tongue, I hold her.
I’ve been trying to
console her—to make her
feel the way that the rest of me feels
when I find
solace in my solitude—yes, sometimes
my tongue is rude.
I think that I was trying to mold her but,
To fight her, I bite her.
—yes, sometimes I am useless.
But please! Please don’t confuse this
feeling with the way that I was trying
to make her feel.
My tongue can sometimes
become a beautifully
handmade tenor uke; she mocks
almost all of the songs messages that
can be played on a tap room’s
juke box—minus the hops.
Yes, sometimes I can’t
even resist my own
tongue’s twists.
She swindles my strength.
Until there’s nothing left.
***
Ataisha Atkinson has been writing poetry for as long as she can remember. Besides a few self published poetry collections on LULU books.com, she has also been featured in Baruch College’s Encounters Magazine. She loves poetry, both the technical and creative aspects of it and prior to her recent submissions, she has only been writing poetry for pleasure. She plans to submit more pieces in the future and she will soon be releasing another self published project called, “To Have Lusted & To Have Loved & To Have Lost.” This collection will be available in Spring. Her Instagram is: The.Same.Is.Lame & her email address is ataishaiscool@icloud.com—for information on acquiring her upcoming work.
Armstrong Literary 