Tongue-Tied… Poem by Betty Jo Hilger

On the tip of his tongue, a circuit breaks
It steps and stops, just shy of its fruition
A halted moment, faltered, unable to give birth
To intelligent ideas behind his vision

A momentary lapse, yet so frustrating
A simple pointed pause within the talk
A silence fraught with anger, flaming deep within
Of desire unrequited, steeped in pain

Shuttered, shattered, stuttered, trapped inside his mind
The budded blossom shrivels on the vine
Unable to bequeath its honeyed, treasured coin
Unto the faceless masses here forlorn

Frozen, impotent, frigid rage dispersed
And icy glaciers flow in fiery streams
Until the dam has broken, the barrier dissolved
Releasing burgeoned, deluged, dammed up dreams