the rationale of the ultimate intimate*

one more for Bala*

a single pillow, an intrepid phrase,

"the rationale of the ultimate intimate"

sought and retained,
then fist-hammered into place,
for your fists reckon and recall all to well,
the contours of your face

the face,
the glib exterior
the canvas cover over the place
where reason and intimate
clash when each competes for your attention,
and ultimately,
it is the intimate that seizes by coup,
any semblance of that banished ghost,
rational reason

better perhaps to say,
that intimate was the ultimate rationale,
thus friend,
each then given its due
but your poems confirm
the intimate rules the world