“dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror’
William Carlos Williams
I wake into the dark before
Light leaks through the house
My mind already caught
By possibility’s intricate
Counter rhythms
Like a metronome marking time
I calculate the day
What to do what to say
For a moment
As I make coffee
An image from a poem
I read the night before
Dances toward me
Tensely I step outside
Lift my arms to the stars
And as the cats curl
Between my bare feet
I do a little jig singing
I too am the happy genius
Of my house, Dr. Williams
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