Step 18: Close Enough to be Masked

Opposite
of a mask

I have,
temporarily,

proven amidst
the spectacle

that I can be
quiet, lowered

& a roaring
human all

& ecstatic
as I am,

the pride
was carried

off with you.
That was

the point.
A million

scenarios
& I want that

to be
the millionth

& the final
one, where

our racing forward
can be done

in victory
of each other

& that carry
forward,

even an inch
past each other’s

shoulders,
is the full

smack
of person

I tethered
to you.

The Wide #1

Green-yellow, the smoke of bolts
in ricochet
& painting by erasure,
the little electrical burns
we’ve all decided to tattoo over
because we have valued shame
more than the ecstatic plunge
of great failure. If you were to fall
would the lengths
that pulled you create actual cliff?
No. Remember, you can have incredible
holes in your person
& be able to plate your whole life
for dinner, but that does not mean
that you will be consumed.

The Wide #3

I admit it,
when I think of grace
I’m actually thinking more
about you
& the continuum
that heralds
the passerby as increasingly
important. I learned
calligraphy so that
my poor handwriting
would be a choice
& so that your legs
would grow amidst
the immediacy
of my attentions.