EXACT

In-cise the exact moment
that you know. shave to
a point. Angle and catch the sun
at its tip. Glint. burn a spot
to the cornea,
replica of the moment so that
the knowing would never
fade
or discolor, never give.

LAND WALK

climbing down gripping in panic
whatever palms meet
or fingers wonder
though most are completely wrong.

patterns in granite trick you into believing corners that aren't there
whole walls and hallways

the blindness of shoes
and how they stumble numb
and know more about traps than you.
trust your feet.

FRIEND JAR.

I guessed it was a wooden jar
to pickle fruit.
steeped for ages in a familiar smell
that I mistook for a sweet smell
but was actually sick from mourning.
I have lost so many people
that I am no longer here.

dipping a spoon of ashes from each of them
from the first death to the
most recent,
then myself
and now they all die with me.

stroked by fingertips sticky
with self-neglect
dust clings to them tenderly
and takes nothing away from its polish.