and it’s as if they are talking to me
directly without intercession of the page
or the intervening interval of centuries
their voices sharp snide and happy
inviting me into their conversation
like hosts at an ongoing dinner party
here have a drink one of those canapés
with the soused shrimp quite delightful
I assure you come meet this person
and I do and then another and another
quickly as if I’m absorbed in a book
which I am as are you who have read
these words I scribbled down tonight
as if I were talking directly to you
(May 2012)
subtext 