21. The Disreappearance

I have left out | what remains

the shadows reveal | wherever there is nothing

we can see them | without them we

lose context | our mind wanders everywhere

but here | where we are

nowhere exceeds us | nothing

engulfs us | we write our poems

with water | to resist the ink

we drag the pen | through the air

to keep the words | silent

invisible | wanting

words bear too much weight | down

on us | they take our breath away

we need the motion to make | words

but not the words themselves | we have

built a process | to forget what we do

to begin over again | each morning

to lie quiet | or quietly

to listen for | the change

to come | but it won’t

 

until disappearance is impossible | we walk

without shadows | beneath us

we imagine shadows | as giant holes plunging

through the earth | just to remind ourselves

not to cast a shadow | we sleep in the dark

to avoid them | chasing away the idea of

darkness as but | an enveloping shadow

we speak in sign language | without

moving our body | we sleep

on the side less likely | to plunge into a pit

we have agreed to | understand each

other without | ever communicating anything

we fear others | will hear our thoughts

we write everything in code | without

writing anything down | we realize language

is a virus | and we avoid viruses

we believe | books hold only dead viruses

we read books | without allowing ourselves to

hear the sounds of their words echo | in our

heads | or empty hands

 

when the world turns ice | we will not

carve words into it | when the seas flood

the land | we will drink the water to scare

the ocean away | we have this one

this one last chance | to keep it

our rules will protect us | breathe

through your nose | never breathe through

your mouth | which carries words

do not allow your | nose to whistle

as you breathe | because that might trans-

form breathing into speaking | always

sleep face down | with your face buried

into your pillow | try not to understand

any word a person may | send you

if you receive a telegram | that is good

news | it means you no longer

live in our world | that you are free

to speak again | to read | to argue

but you must be careful | not

to return | to the viruses | ever