rite

point at nuance cage
scratched concentric bandages
old yellow scab wrinkles
anonymity horror treasured
words change the world only when the world listens
and a tear might break their hearts
but it won't open their minds
without permission
force broken egg machine
you can't put it back together again
you can't put anything back
together again
simple shadows of simple curves
remind me of how i never saw her
so it disappears
her arm bent naked under
street-lamp-lit sheets in disarray
that never covered Botticelli hips
alabaster lips that never called my name
instead my index finger
silent powerful interrupt
smile unshared
emotion not communed
dissolution inevitable

©1997