after all that
we ended up with the right one
tilt back towards the sunrise
and when you sound out
the function
with your mouth
trace amounts of time
will vivify
place one fruit or vegetable
at each end
of the ruler
the witch’s prophecy
is unexpectedly tactile
should we move around some more?
the light
of attention
the purpose
of coming together
take away what you are able
that feeling in the bowels
caused only by the irritation of
agriculture
my tummy is upset
she said
my heart is upset
she said
I am upset
she said
the seed of a bald cypress tree
in my left pocket
throws everything off balance,
or,
it tells me that it was all off before
and teaches me how to restore it,
even if just for a moment
when I reach the entrance
of my middle world
there is a fire burning
I sit beside it
and wait for my healed state to appear
many approach
and with each arrival
I think, yes
you are the one
bear, crow, elephant, snail, badger, whale
even Worf appears
and I wave him away
saying
you don’t belong here
as I stare into the fire
I try to breathe
and practice patience
and presence
and then the glint of a hawk’s eye
and the hawk’s gaze
and my mother’s ghost inside the hawk inside myself
I report back
the hawk
but what my teacher asks is
who is the fire?
today
I wonder about the labor
of worms
clip out an example
quivering breathing
make some incision
some arbitrary cut
after you recall that this story begins with one
there goes another one
here is the present
this scission
this zest
unclench the teeth
quivering breathing
a false entrance
awake
we can cover only what was said today
of the rock with holes
in the center of my earth painting?
I crossed the threshold once
and then, I couldn’t breathe
unmap and vivify
contact: a touch against time
of the surface, of the darkened-dark below
beneath my feet?
person moving
(there’s no escape)
of distance
people
say, of distance
will you wait in line for me?
of separation anxiety
anxiety exists because separation exists
(or doesn’t)
my hand is reaching for your back
the arrogance of problem-solving
what we all fear
at the core
is the loss of love & merging
where does all your shit go?
the disadvantaged cow
is happy to see you
are you aware of your own regressions
of when you are not fully present
how to say tomorrow
in the language
of yesterday