to build a small boat—
simple, lacking the words
which go along with. stern,
port, starboard, aft, prow
―to lash together plank
and plank, to pluck a clump
of reeds—another, another
—and stuff the seams.
to thrust the boat into new
water with knotted rope
in its belly, in yours, in mine
and let the horizon dry up
—and be forlorn. to build
an entire ark if possible.
to be given a rudder
with no inclination
to steer. to steal another
man's compass then
land atop a mountain,
be burned on its flanks
mid-ritual, mid-offering.
to stare past the eventual,
let bones curl at ends
and peel; quit the shared
tongue brought with—
impaired. to know better
of the birds—myriad, flocking
—but not know at all.
boredom looms that large
over. to be rudimentary,
how can we not scratch
and pick at skin and dream
the earth as we have been
shown? to bury, to bury.
to weigh the knot
of encounter—hadn't we
the acumen—hadn't i you,
my lover? —dextrous
fingers merely? to unbind
us, this most difficult shape.
