Occasion #2

you don’t always need to end your poem
with the image of the moon,

you said, you were cutting the grass
in your backyard to stop the spring

you don’t always need to understand
the moon, you said, just hear its tone

dialed through wind
to reach the armor you put around your lack

don’t pretend you understand the moon
you said, just wait for the light bulbs

lining the lot to switch on like lilacs
count them into your belongings
spare them when it’s dark

you’re neither for nor against
which is to say you are translucent

that night, i saw you standing behind
me in the bathroom mirror

waiting for me
to be done with sobbing

precision or poetry
these are the only two options

Etel Adnan wrote, the moon is more than I am,
but she can’t give more than what she is.

you are only in front of it
waiting for a sign to sync your lips

say that you are patient
say when you are done

say all humans suffer
and they all suffer silently

say somewhere morning is always coming
you are brief and you long for nothing after it

your face waning to show the dark side
your heart is the farthest place I have been to

+


Reprinted with the permisison of the author.