I.
we know
your shoes
in between
we listen
to weather
storms and
dozens of
strides since
you’ve gone
far from
real reach
outside memory
II.
I’ve curated
efficiencies
I’ve maddenned
my perspective
all in one
person
I call
these my nerves
I’m trying
from the heart
to communicate
the correct method
to raise
a lot of
sunken ships
all at once
while letting the bones
remain at rest
III.
the practice of using
a poster child
to mean
myself
applies to
the previous examples
only when
it does
IV.
yes, perhaps the process
is painless
or, perhaps you misunderstand
what pain really is
in common
parlance
you can’t go beyond
the intolerable
is disproved
every day
and has always
been disproved
from our
very first cry
to what will be
our last strand
our last step
in our last shoes
when we at last
have learned to listen
to the silence
in between
our strides
getting shorter
