subtext

• •

controlled breathing

I write to
contain if even
for a moment
the slow breath
as the word
beneath the last
of the conversation
slips into this
world and shifts
slightly but
significantly
everything I see
to such a degree
that my bumbling
attempts at love
fall into mockery
and self-flagellation
and frighten you
away like a rabbit
into the brush

(December 7, 2013)