satisfaction, that it does not matter how I forget.
is a man
wanting what he thinks
is a woman
being what she knows
must be
necessary for security,
incantation contortions
vexing our
sexuality dis-
respecting a man
a woman self-
respecting them-
selves, one sexuality
residing prehensile
within noise
eternity today.
The other part
controlling us
lay me down
on the floor crying
until I was still
enough to see the complex
structure of the cob
web stout;
built by the invisible-
at-home guest who, between
some recent day ago and my
cheery old hope
Of the rusted verdigris, long tin,
once used for potatoes, then kindling,
then rocks outside, then brought in again,
some recent day ago when the fireplace
was cleared from winter, and after the larger
guests were heard singing there; this invisible,
fragile, non-member of our consciousness came,
and stout, complex, extravagant bearer of light
and dust, built this cob
web that saw, from the other part
controlling, maybe, my lying down
on the floor crying, until I was
still enough to see the view.
move she makes recalling
her spooked leaping before her
cry before her painful illness on the floor
again today
She sleeps in a box in the hall and
she throws up there and we clean it up
and she goes back sleeping again in
my familiar old accessories too remembered
to remove.
For as long as she
continues to live our Agatha
gray, I pay attention to each one
I see of her bearing weight
on her lithe skeleton that is-was
so lithe as it was-was so long ago
and again, I wonder how many lives,
this sweet pet who saved everything
in her living as herself fighting as herself
grooming and overmuch as herself nervous
child cat I pay attention to our children
grown and no longer still longer ever will be
their own lives How many lives will they choose
to fight with groom through nervous overmuch (I hope not)
and look again (my oven is not a magic
wand) at the recipe for
butter cookies
this time planning
to pay attention
to every
second
turning the water
pressures to centipede
grass; noiseless spinning
by the red painted handle
that is removed and kept
on the console we purchased
for an anniversary years
ago; we keep it out, because
the sun and centipede, hardy though
they are, forget that water is
in the pipes, ductwork of
focusing our memories
on the 80% we are constantly forgetting.
ii.
turning water
pressures centipede
grass. spinning
by handle
that kept
on purchased
for years
ago; because
the though
they is
in of
focusing memories
on forgetting.