floating and leaving no trace
something black flashes
in the grass
exactly the way
light doesn’t expand
overhead the sun blazes
behind a white cloud
and casts a long black shadow
across the sky
an oil slick on blue
underground
moving toward me
the bones in my feet
phalange proximal metatarsal
vibrate with its approach
something insensate and unilluminated
flashes underground
knowing me without knowing
we scan the page
but the map
is not the territory
here, some skin
the curve of a hip
and a long sigh
there is nothing
written down
in the instructions
the sky has assumed
a shade of blue
that hurts the eyes
with an intense
purity and clarity
if not for that one cloud
who hid the cloud
when the sun came out
it was here
just a second ago
keeping everything cool
and under a gray light
but now the shadows run
and shrink under our feet
and sweat runs down the
back of my neck
and the unrelenting blue
of the sky is like
a nightlight when
you’re trying to sleep
Words and Feathers 