Release

In taking up this wayward string of words 
(hereinafter “Poem”), in a manner 
either deliberate or accidental, 
paid for or freely happened upon, 
the Reader (hereinafter “you”) 
assumes all risk of personal trauma, 
loss, or misfortune resulting from the lines, 
images, or infelicities of said Poem, 
including, but not limited to, acts of God, 
real or imagined, high winds, avalanches, 
lightning strikes, floods, the tree branch that may, 
without warning, crash down on the café 
where you sit reading this one afternoon 
as well as all acts of human thoughtlessness 
and cruelty, such as hurtful words or slurs, 
black eyes, broken hearts, torn or soiled garments 
civil unrest, head-on collisions, war; 
in addition, you as the Reader agree 
to release the Poet (hereinafter “me”) 
from all liability, claim or cost
for any damage sustained in situations 
that can be reasonably derived from the Poem, 
extremes of temperature and emotion, 
unforeseen desires acted upon, or left to fester, 
any such altercations or contagions 
as may occur or be transmitted 
between consenting adults of any age or gender, 
all resulting states of rapture or paranoia, 
all losses of property or innocence, 
all forms of disillusionment, religious or sexual; 
furthermore you hereby acknowledge that 
as the free and independent interpreter 
of these inky impressions (hereinafter “letters”) 
you bear full and complete responsibility 
for all such calamities as they may describe, 
and are, for all legal and moral purposes, 
therefore also the Poet (hereinafter “you”) 
and author of your own misfortunes, 
such as they may be mirrored in the Poem.

Cover Photo by Gunnar Bengtsson on Unsplash