Noelle Kocot

Vicodin

Unsuspecting, a ripped wound healed
By the day’s buckling. Oh, melodious
Gallop at full breath, we have dressed
Ourselves down to our thumbs. You

Were artifice—I discarded you. We
Arrived together at the desired parallel,
Sisters to the plain trees. I held you
Between the lines and you were genial,

Even in that span. Often faded, I held
You again in the rumor made darkly
While you turned black inside me. High
On the mark, the face, not my face. Witness

Of surface, I see you backwards in the mirror.
You tried to take it all from me, while I
Dwindled and shook in utter bemoanment.
Perhaps this voyage is missing on its chord.

Noelle Kocot is the author of seven books of poems, most recently, Phantom Pains of Madness (Wave Books, 2016). She has won numerous awards and honors for her work, and is Poet Laureate of Pemberton Borough, NJ.