of course I’m shaped by how I see what I see
knowing full well that the shapes on the wall
are just shapes I shape into a meaning
which in turn shapes how I am seen by you
who sees what you see of you in me knowing
that we can only be what we see of our selves
in all the maddening swirl of our tangled world
yet somehow you think you see me better
than you see yourself which is no surprise
since seeing yourself constantly blinds you
to pretty much anything beyond yourself
taking on a shape not brought to definition
by the knotted measure of your view
until everyone becomes a smudged metaphor
of you who cannot see that our retina’s
reflection only resembles your opposite
(March 2013)