all i know is this:

All I know is this:
The gill net we used to use
When I was younger
Used to catch salmon
But it doesn’t anymore
The land I grew up on
Is poisoned
And we cannot eat the game
Or what we grow
Or the water that flows
All I know is this:
The cleaver and the bone
Are not only a tool for a butcher
But a select few women
That know the path
Clear and sharp to my heart
Words also cut
Into soft flesh
All I know is this:
I miss my children
By the minute
By the hour
And I will never abandon them
And the night is terrible
For that’s when I miss them
The most.
All I know is this:
Love is you wretching
Up your stomach
When you get dumped
Praying for the bullet
To cure your aching heart
The headache that won’t go away
All I know is this:
The bullfighter doesn’t always win
Hemingway blew away his promise
My father cut my umbilical chord
And walked away
Drowning his soul with a bottle
All I know is this:
Every street I walk down
I carve my name into the pavement
I scream at the buildings
My words bounce around the glass
And steel and concrete
Losing my self a little bit every day
All I know is this:
The streets are filled
With beautiful temptations
And you have to be aware
Of the blade
The pills
The sacrifices people make
All I know is this.