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After My Body

The sidewalk granulated so,

yellow from the streetlight though it's not quite dark

 

it's difficult to set your feet down normally if you look at them

while you do it

I can't watch my body while I use it, like a dancer

it's easier just to feel

 

stand in the wind although the shelter is empty

not sure why

I don't ponder my actions while I take them, like a philosopher

it's easier not to think

 

cigarette burns quickly, the wind pushing it down

before I can pull it

and for awhile I forget about it while I watch it

unraveling ring by ring in bursts

against a sidewalk now blurred with inattention

eyes focus on one plane like a camera

 

I read that if you look at horizontal stripes with your left eye

and vertical stripes with your right, then you will perceive a grid

our brains lie

and take shortcuts

 

the heart and the liver work hard no matter what

but they're just along for the ride

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Written by
kathleen-mavourneen
American
Published
Dec 27, 2010
Lines·Words
22·169
Permission

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