First red stains on white paper,
fingerprints
a palimpsest of the future
when we will share books from one hand to
another.

For now, inkspots mark a thought’s hesitation
as it lingers in the white of potential
A child on the high board
measuring his courage in feet and inches and the blue
of water:  the first word will be loud
awkward and ungainly, of course.
Beloved, for being first, and remembered
but painful.

Here between the calculation and the pain
lives the moment that brings him back
and back once more
the moment where the soft air loves him
sibilant in his ears
a rush of love
new and clean as white paper
about to be stained


10/18/09