THE NEW I

I

miss the luxury of being mad

leaving crimson tear stains on ivory pillows

and canine tattoos on layers of lower-lip tissues

I
miss the purge of vaporized hurt escaping through my ears

the release on impact of my bare knuckles on a dumb wall

and the verbalized bile escaping the compressor in my tight chest

I

miss clenching my jaws till my ears ring

the exhilarating numbness of tightening a fist till it turns bloodless

or the perfect slap that manually overrides prior settings

*shrug*

the new I is too busy

....at the distillery

where every thing is bottled and corked