“WHAT’S
A FOUR-LETTER WORD FOR OBSESSION?”
“Frigate like a
Book.” Emily Dickinson, #1263
Always
you read in
bed, belly down, boards of the
book you’re holding like
shoulders
in your hands,
posture the missionary
position, face cupped
over
the splayed words
moving horizontally,
vertically, cross-
word
clues, (2 across,
7 down), symmetry not
that of Escher’s birds
or
chessboard squares; yet
you believe in them--shadow,
dark serifs, glyphs of
letters;
I have faith
in silence, the spaces in
between, the light that makes
it
work. You say to me
Clue me in; I say to you
Stanza break, the curve
of
the bee over
the imbricated rose. Fill
in the blanks, dear. How
do
I spell this out?
Imagine your hands against
my spine; go ahead
and
turn the dog-eared
corner; see what’s waiting for
you on these white sheets.
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