without fences

without fences

in the hallway of sleep, limbs curl and chase

and tag, fall down on wet ground,

laughing

like spiders, the mind ebbs into the third

person, what is caught in the glimmering

patient web

knitting of wounds, muscles clenching

and relaxing, sometimes the middle ground

is a hospital of sorts

a landscape shaped with eyes opening and shutting,

exploratory hands, words, silences,

shifting

blankets and umbrellas. sandy colorful beach.

pulls of elusive, changing moons. direct announcement of sun.

everything steams, and cools

i crush bits of paper, words like yes

and no, oracles

tossed like dice

each ingredient mixes together, hands and spoons,

a single bowl. cover, let it

rise

here is all the remarkable: the passionate synthesis,

the careful explosions. tip the scale, keep tipping.

here, the balance: restraint, recurrence.

look. this is only a moment. who steps in,

how steady, what heart, whose fire, what sound,

how does the breath build

into such grand percussion? how does the song

collapse inside the skin, why the heat

and the holding?

8.17.12