I gather a deck
of self-concepts
and choose one
and go up to you.

Have you seen this person?

Your face is hard to read.
I go home to consult
my records, check my thinking.

Who was I?
Who can support this story?

Surely I didn't just
ask you, just like that.


for/from poetry instigator?

Risks

I did not hide
sewing scissors
in the laundry

or set a bucket of water
by my screen door
to invite the rain in

I spoke of love, but did not
insist upon it, least of all
to myself

and I ran out of money
for all the extra fees
so I retrenched, literally.

I am peeping out of a hole, expecting
mortars to fall, and I think I am smiling.

I haven't gone
to the place where flowers are taught
what colors to display

but I pass that garden every day.
And there is a strict jungle of offices
and so much more that I do not know.

It's all in books. The library is the most dangerous
place in the world, and is, I think,
the door that leads in and out at the same time.



for http://totallyoptionalpromts.blogspot.com