I became unexpectedly aware
of a
magnet in my chest.
an anchor under my
breast bone.
soft, quiet, almost
unnoticeable.
until later pondered alone
in a dark room.

your polarity,
being opposite naturally,
drew me slow
through the aisles in
the theatre
past people carrying
jackets
into a park
where city stars
were streetlights and
our human discoveries
were serenaded
by the spring song
of homeless men pushing
carts up the street.

As our magnets gradually
synched
I felt the heavy slide and click of
understanding
coded into songs and on the fronts of
cards

and when I let you-
I saw colours in
your kiss,
noting that some matched
your eyes.
I found home in
your arms.
like a final orientation...
like being on a road trip my whole life
without even knowing.

Became afraid.

Because really,
who understands love,
when they've never been properly
introduced?

I walked in, careless,
to my ankles.
It seemed all right.

the water licked smooth,
around my lower bones.
the tickle of cold
the bump of rocks
silty sand,
squishing up into
the spaces around my arch.
another step, and the pull.
the tease of the tide, lap-lapping
like a hungry feral kitten at found milk.
the snickering of the current
told little lies to my calves
about the depth and its strength
seducing and tugging.
Comecomecomecomecomecomecome
I looked upriver. Dark sunk
into the trees.
Crows sailing up, over the line of evergreens.
Solid.

I awoke suddenly from my murky forward-trance.
Halting my progression.
In over my knees.
Violently chilled.

Clarity dissolved upon my senses,
Remembering my native element,
I spoke my rejection to the  liquid Rake.

'This is not my place.
as long as I have breath.
and I will not lie with you upon your bed.
You have no thumbs, for coffee,
you have no heart for truth, although
secrets, of this, I am sure you hold, many.
No mouth for reading,
and trust-
I already have circling my finger,
and am tied in my heart, to one with eyes and lungs.
Some marry the sea, but I have married a Man.'

So I placed my heel behind my shoulder,
yanking hard against the rules of the moon,
up-tripping
backwards across sudden boulders.

Feeling the sick squirm of a game
almost lost,
a hallucination perhaps of-
the gurgle of a defeated laugh
chasing me back to the bank
I pushed away.

On the  shore, damp-dry grass of another month
lay beneath my feet

The River showed me shimmering calm.
nature just nature again-
a  vast. sleeping creature with no possible interest in Eve. but
From the droplets of water on my legs dripped a separate truth.

I turned away from the leaves and fish.
drying and donning shoes.
And went all the way back
a Flower still,
to The Land.

Everyone's in therapy.
Treatment for this-
Support for that-
Guidance for her-
Counseling for him.

As it turns out-
Life requires a jacket.
But for the people who help out,
And keep the others afloat-
How do they not drown?

6th period ends, and
my heart is full and hurting-
the honey ache
of knowledge departed
accidentally
but at the same
time-
Entirely Intentional.

The epitome of a New Teacher in an
Old Trap-
Blind, yet
leading the blindfolded.
distinguishing their candles,
then, Extinguishing them,
allowing them to walk in the dark
giving them permission to
feel the way.

In "Treatment",
Truth is found-
In the falsity
of the environment.
A globe as small as an egg
cradeling the daggers
of one entire county
Shaken, not stirred.

To dump, re-mingle, mainstream.
will they ever?
should they?
can they?
It requires more research-
Now-please turn to page 3 and read aloud.

Push and pull
like a wave
tides to the moon
the way she goes-

All equators
on the line
in balance
and yet the colour is
off.

Twists in the
branches of fate
may break, fall in the
road, shatter on
the fork.

but with my plate
so full, I cannot clean
it.

I fear starvation
I worry for the coming winter
I cannot store
for I am already frozen.

A stone cannot hide
For it cannot
Feel.

I am not a stone...
But I wish
I was.

smash with your fists
bash the drum
slash the strings

hit harder
sing louder

turn it right up
but for the love of
god don't stop

I don't want to-

accidentally hear
my heart.

so...
I catalogued it-

You asked-
sorry...Assigned.
here's the sheet.

name an event, puzzle through your own
tumbling thoughts and
show me the reason.

right here, line three
it was a bad day.

line four shows my
neurosis.

will laying it
all out be
the cure

the fixer?

I've made lists,
but no matter how many I make
for you

for me
the

writing is still
on the wall.