COLLAPSE
BODY TEXT
A book lies open drawing attention
from a world you can’t make out.
from a world you can’t make out.
Moving without movement
through a sky of white vapor
through a sky of white vapor
kindred subjects, roofless houses
used air exits standing in for
used air exits standing in for
those who know an outline fits the crime
they’ve lost since childhood sounded
they’ve lost since childhood sounded
like something recently disturbed
where a word can’t help its nerve-
where a word can’t help its nerve-
muscle contractions from looking funny
to the stillness caught and verified above.
to the stillness caught and verified above.
Blood is flowing where two eyes
and a vast exception used to live.
and a vast exception used to live.
The sneaky astringent angle of that
one look, that one desire to intervene
one look, that one desire to intervene
made resolution come up short on the
sidewalk bordering your artificial home.
sidewalk bordering your artificial home.
But where should you really reside
when death and pain deliver no end
when death and pain deliver no end
of variants to remember while every-
thing in your body mimics the same
rigorous circumstance that prevents you
from understanding why you’re wrong.
from understanding why you’re wrong.
How will you make necessity
into something you can survive
into something you can survive
if a moment you don’t recognize
is always standing on your head?
is always standing on your head?
A perfectly understandable
human gesture might land you
human gesture might land you
on either side of this dilemma
but that won’t stop all the silence
but that won’t stop all the silence
you don’t want to think about
from doing its appointed job.
from doing its appointed job.
A book lies open to a broken page
still turning over life’s most recent
still turning over life’s most recent
black white object calling back a color
when the absent shades of memory
when the absent shades of memory
leave no room for that special kind
of accident made up in advance.
of accident made up in advance.
The bright sun is shining
through a window you don’t notice
through a window you don’t notice
while you’re standing in the corner
feeling lost. A little bit further off
feeling lost. A little bit further off
a road leading back to where you
came from is empty and glad.
came from is empty and glad.
Spencer Selby
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