To close in
read each word
aloud     string
them together in
lines     find out
what can be
learned     this can
be done yet not
retained     through
no fault     can
words have faults
of the words
squeezing     in
uneven cursive
among butterflies
that seem to grow
petals in flight


To read     to
attempt to read
the poem     is
done     then
as a poet wrote
undone     the
words invite
and refuse     we
might     ask can
words invite and
refuse us     in
our wanting




Is this a fairy tale
we have found
ourselves in
are we the advancing
lover     a kiss to
bestow     fairy
tale cast as
gallery display
must a visitor
kiss the object
awake     does
the visitor
believe the poem
sleeps and waits
does the visitor
possess     can a
kiss be possessed
the kiss that will
wake the poem
will the poem
rise up     grateful
and sure


A fairy tale tells
what can’t
happen     we
may be in
one but no
closer to keeping
the words     we
see     stitches
cerulean and lilac
dandelion     peach
and pine     thread
through carmine or
is it hibiscus
rhubarb     shiraz
savor sutures
puncturing cloth
to form a script
looping among
petals that long
we might say     to
fly     wings that
take     we may
say     perverse
pleasure in being
mistaken for
petals


But can’t keep
the words     they
refuse     we
may say     to
be possessed
the beloved     if
this is a fairy tale
posing as exhibit
rises up to meet
the visitor’s lips
and falls back
into deepest slumber
leaving them
alone and
bewildered




So goes the
tale     but what
if gaze is
greedy     kiss
insists




We may step
back     circle the
box     the given
poem is on and
is     the box
is here and other
boxes hover     each
made by hand to
fail to meet
machine perfection
calling to mind
containers for what’s
left from a meal
out     or adornment
worn on occasion
padding between
cardboard and
cloth     visible
only as soft
bulge     is it pillow
or pincushion
subcutaneous or
substrate     punctured
along with cloth
by needle passing
thread to bolster
construction


This object made
to last     or is it
to degrade     thread
and cardboard
glue and cotton
this box the
hue of butcher’s
broom     elderberry
chokecherry or is
it bittersweet     this
box that is a
poem     this poem
that also is
or is on a box
and is     it
is     or are
they     the other
boxpoems in
the series     poem-
boxes     contained
by and containing
a dark quiet


This object
designed by
whom     to
hold gem or
sustenance


Is the dark
quiet then the
absence of these
a promise broken
or is it promise
fulfilled or is
it at all
promise


The dark quiet
pervades     we may
say     the inside
and outside     does
all this space
obliterate or
withhold
does it yield
as in yield up
to the visitor and
what may be
this nourishment
these gems
yielded


Or does this
dark quiet     can
we say     ask
us to yield     and
yield what




The box and
companion boxes’
walls cleave the
dark     assert
we may say     form
a series of
objects on display
the red one
illumined     the
row of others
hovers     hovers
rather in mind’s
eye




We return
and return to
words weaving
and squeezing
among the gestures
in color of flight
and flower     read
words we can’t
capture despite
desire     why
are we in a
fairy tale or is
this a dream
we believe we’ll
remember     the
words     the
poem fades
is the fault     is
there fault
is it ours


Or no fault in
sight     a
song or chant
some psalm-
like incantation
looped and lofted
into ears at
bedtime or
sitting on a
bench squeezed
among elders     we
inhaled wafting
aromatones
flavorhues
lemon and pumpkin
sage and jacaranda
cornflower     cerise
touched colorobjects
sand     amaranth
lupine     moss
and autumn maple
fluttered feather
of kingfisher
the psalm or
song     we may
sing     kissed
us     we yielded
became the
song     or may
we say     the
poem     so nothing
to remember




To fill the
box with a
body     even
tiny     no
or adornments
to store in
it mementos
or receipts     no
but might run
finger over
surface     warp
and weave of
serviceable cloth
gently press
cotton batting
circle     eye from
angles     squint
at dangling
row of other
colors     wonder




What is
listening     what
listens     what
is listened


Is within
without
with     with-
out


What threads
color of sea and
fruit     stone
and tree


Is threaded
what     is
thread


Cloth     thin
pad     flimsy
board been
pierced     must


Be     must
have been
will