Frank Adams’ most recent poem to appear here was “Just A Thought” (October 2019).

Knowing
By Frank Adams

The body doesn’t forget its journey—
it knows where it’s been
what has happened

even when the brain
opts to file some memories away
out of sight.

The body recalls—
fat and thin—drunk and sober
sickness and health—love and seduction—

it remembers—the childhood rape
you no longer recall—the incest
suffered at the hands of your father—

the touch of a stranger—
a bully’s bravado
words used to wound you—

and it brings these memories forward—
when someone holds you too tight
or, in a dream that awakens you in the night—

it feeds your panic
when the world closes in
and people get too close.

The body doesn’t forget its journey—
it remembers
and demands to be heard.