The Broken – A. Gregory Frankson
the beautifully brave are like
brittle birch bark bent by blows
borne with breath bated, barely able
to maintain emotional communion
with the vibrations innate to their souls
and when pressure exerted
on their reed of society
bends it to the breaking point
and no other option remains
they snap
like the click of a camera shutter
locks the scream of a child defiled
by napalm in the jungles of Vietnam
into the trauma centre of memory
they snap
like defeated legacies of arms
extremities buckle under stress
as force of impact
shatters the weak
who lack backbone
they snap
like the tenuous
connections of neural endings
pressed beyond the limits of comfort
as the mind is assaulted
by relentless past torments
they snap
like the crackling pop
of leather strap against
pre-pubescent skin crispy as the
words chewing out raw hide
they snap
because they have no choice
because cohesiveness and wholeness
are sad replacements for
holding it all together when
falling apart is a better way
to cast this compound fracture
the broken
need a break
from breaking
so they snap
just so they can finally
be
still.
A. Gregory Frankson has produced several chapbooks and spoken word recordings as well as the poetry collections Cerebral Stimulation, Lead on a Page and A Weekly Dose of Ritallin. Greg’s work also appeared in the anthologies Mic Check (Quattro Books, 2008), That Not Forgotten (Hidden Book Press, 2012) and The Great Black North (Frontenac House, 2013). He is a 2012 Canadian poetry slam champion, 2013 inductee to the VERSe Ottawa Hall of Honour and 2014 nominee for the Black Canadian Award for Best Spoken Word. Greg is the past poet laureate of the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership and was an on-air poetic commentator on CBC Radio One’s Here and Now Toronto.