Memory’s branch quivers
beneath the weight of a butterfly
beneath the weight of a butterfly
How am I to know what it wants
without asking
without asking
Could it be that simple, the question
and then the answer
and then the answer
Why do we fall outside of these additions
or consult the zodiac surrounding us
or consult the zodiac surrounding us
read its rotten walls and bulb glare
Why substitute names for things
Why substitute names for things
when the things name us
(our vowels and consonants)
(our vowels and consonants)
into their sleep,
one from which they will never awaken
one from which they will never awaken
Am I just an echo drifting back to myself
who is sitting beneath the river
who is sitting beneath the river
drinking air
Something must have told me to say this
Something must have told me to say this
A rock or the memory of a rock
falling toward the shadow it once owned
falling toward the shadow it once owned
