my face falls apart in front
of yours, mechanical lips failing
to communicate-
                      
                      buzzsaws from my
mouth flow out to cut through

suspended in time
   you look so calm, contained
   but I know that your mind
   screams

   in its glass dome, it sees-
just as mine snarls and explodes
from its container,
            
             tail-whipping the truth of
gear-teeth bending and breaking


the machine descends into

a chaos

so complete that anyone

who sees

is never the same

.

saying goodbye to
a face, we realize
communication is
a clock, falling apart

metal moments hinge on
the open air between us-
   we curse and apologize

the wind in my sails got too strong
and my heart,
afraid of being discovered,

burst into pieces
of conversational quality

shake loose the circuits
that outshine
the electricity
of your thoughts
break them,
    
   grind them into dust
and wake up to new machines
made in light-filled factories

be still,
   i will look you
           in the eye

   and if you show me
your face,
                   I'll show
                   you mine