Break

Break
a dollar into four
pennies, five
nickles, six
dimes and the interest
owed.

Break
a silence into yes
or no, or i don't
know! Cast a stone
into a chasm
hear the echo
break and shatter.

Break
a habit like a stick
of sycamore wood dried
five years in your
neighbor's yard
waiting for your hands
to come and sever
without remorse.

Break
a promise into a distrust
that lingers in the hallways
rattles in the teacups,
settles in the corners
and seeps into the bedsheets.

Break
a finger playing ice hockey
with your neighbor of ten
years, the first time knowing
anything of him or what he
loved. Say something
besides "Shit!"; you know him
not well enough to swear.

Break
a heart into the answer
that it never wanted you
to hear: the season's changing
color; I have to move be-
fore winter's here.