Cliff Notes 

You said you needed cliff notes for my 

poetry…so I dissect that, overanalyze 

that, question that… until I feel the answer 

to that and all it means. 

And I’ll give you the cliff notes version. 

It means you need a shortcut 

to my feelings 

even though I’ve written them down 

line by line 

but you can’t read between the lines. 

It means chicken shit, rolling over, 

playing dead amnesia. 

It means if I have to explain the words, 

then you haven’t held my heart 

and that means you are scared 

of what you may see 

if you look me in the eyes. 

And it means my heart is 

 right fucking here…

it means you walk by it every day

like it’s a sock on the floor… 

It means I’m not happy. 

It means, maybe I’m not writing 

for you. 

Are you taking notes? 

 It means…. 

I am finished with this. 

It means this is the end of us. 

Are you reading this? 

 -Stephanie Bennett-Henry ©2016