Talk

I talk too much.
The words flow
every day,
all day,
as I talk
to my students
and teach them things
they think don’t matter.
I talk and talk,
and I seem to never be
out of words
or phrases that spill
out of my lips
like a quick-moving river,
running over rocks
and trees
and people.
They flow from me
in torrents
of nothing
and more nothing.
I talk
but I don’t really say much
of anything.
These poems
are my true words,
the real essence
of who I am.
Words are what
make me,
create me,
break me,
but I never say out loud
the thoughts
that encompass
my everything.
I want the world
to read me,
I want you
to read me,
but I never have
the courage
to truly speak.