the form is basic enough
parry riposte block deflect
then repeat as each advance
comes toward me again
year after year after year
even on such shattered ground
the pattern’s familiar enough
each question carries doubt
specific enough without being
at its center entirely wrong
yet it is wearing to explain yet again
what it is I do
who I am
that is not you
(from a work in progress: “Arcana,” VIIwands, March 12, 2014)
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