"Before I write..."

Before I write, first I undress my voice

so it is intimate to you when I address you.

To love or not to love – was once a choice,

until the day you came along and rescued

me from this fallacy. You stripped me of white noise,

and only then, allowed me to possess you.

Before I write, first I undress my voice

so that you don’t mistake it for another’s,

so that no other voice can sound as mine.

To be or not to be – not merely lovers,

but in a state of love, outside of time,

beyond the day’s routines and constant bothers,

within the syntax, sentence structure, rhyme.

Before I write, first I undress my voice,

so that the voice inside me isn’t stifled,

so that all octaves are within my reach.

To write or not to write – as a disciple

I have no choice but write the words you preach.

All else I do amounts to a trifle, -

my life, itself, is but a part of speech.