vervain______

this buried
and you're
not gone
the word i can't
get in edgewise
makes me smaller
deflates me.
i try
anyway.
i offer my own
opinion
to deadened
ears
i shove
pretty things
into closed
hands,
i have no strength
to get myself
up that mountain.
i have no youth
no dreams
only a great longing
to be there.