With each assertion
tempered with doubt,
I quaver
and do not move—
as if a leaf
in autumn
indecisively about to fall.
Always on the cusp
of desire,
I stutter and fail.
What I would say
folds obliquely
into silence.
As if what one says matters,
when no one is there to hear.
(August 4, 2018)
subtext 