Struggle X

By Andrew R. Duckworth

I write it down
Because I don’t speak well.
I like to gather my thoughts
In a nifty little folder,
Organize them,
Given the time,
And write them down,
Because I don’t speak well.

I write it down
Because it gives me time
To think and produce meaning.
The words are often trapped
In a room upstairs.
It takes some time
To bring down all of those boxes
So that my mouth can spit them out.

I write it down
So that my mouth
Can’t move ahead of my mind.
I’d rather it not get left behind
By the quick and thoughtless words
Spewed from all too eager lips,
Spitting before I’ve given
The thought words need.

I write it down
Because I don’t speak well.
I don’t think I speak well.
Maybe if I was on the outside,
I might think differently.
But, on the inside,
My mind knows all too well
That I don’t speak well.