We converse in circles like
Fish in a bowl
Forgetful shining bodies
Birds netted in
Wings stretching wide
Horses flying around the corral
We are crazy dark things

We talk ourselves into
Halos of light
Glass and frost
Of street lamps
Wire and heat
That glow
We are burning, burning, burning

We find ourselves
As if halos were blown away
The shape of things is
  Not to be seen
Neither here nor there
Two creatures not sleeping
But curled inside each other

Sitting on this table here
Is an orange
It is the sun
And it is the only orange from here
To New York
Where another orange sits
On another table
Sweet and juicy

If you cross the room
From my orange
You will be the earth
Only a trillion times too big
And no matter how bad you want
To grab that orange and
Peel it
You can’t

If you half that distance
You are Venus
In love with the orange
And half again
You are burning
From its pored skin

If you are earth again and leave the room
You are Mars, then farther still
Made of gas
If you jog outside your house
And down the block
Your breath will form rings
And moons
Around your body

And if you so choose
To pace 800 more lengths
And shrink to the size
Of sand
You can be Pluto
The Hungry
Cold and spinning

There once was a time
When a fool decided to create
The ant.
And so he bent over
And formed limbs out of
Twigs, out of earth,
A small shiny body
Out of berries and shells.

And the fool dragged these
Many parts around
Until it was the
Perfect aesthetic.
This small ant.

And the fool blew
A tiny wind
Into this body
And then watched
The ant stand, foolishly,
Watched the ant
Carry sticks and stones
Forming and reforming shapes,

Recreating his own creation.

After yoga class
After breathing deeply
After pigeon, and warrior, and eagle, and mountain
After laying on the floor like a ragdoll, eyes closed
I imagine slipping out from under the sheets
     Naked
And padding to the bathroom
Where I ruffle my hair
And look glowing into the mirror
But instead I open my eyes
With eight other strangers
Who all roll up our mats
And pad to the front door
Put on our shoes
Smile shyly at each other
And go out into the snowy
    dusk night