Later that week \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I found it in my right side<\/p>\n
pocket. It had begun\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to bloom, blue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tissuey soft.<\/p>\n
To the bottle \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of carbolic acid\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 went your father.<\/p>\n
To brain plaque, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the weed \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of forgetfulness,<\/p>\n
went your mother. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Still you felt \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a fondness<\/p>\n
for the natural thing,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 you loved \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0even the mulch,<\/p>\n
and the flower \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of the mallow family, hollyhock.<\/p>\n
Come in, you said. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From one specimen \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of the garden<\/p>\n
you cut me \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0a sprig, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0which I pocketed. Banished<\/p>\n
from light, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0from you, from\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 its princedom, a small<\/p>\n
Gautama. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then I forgot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0it was there, down<\/p>\n
there in the dark, doing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 its precise work anyway.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tongue hangs fat to lick the air,<\/p>\n
gray and dry as a gag. Your whole life<\/p>\n
you panted after whojustcameherenow,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
a bone over there you could smell before<\/p>\n
you could see, the wide patch of yard<\/p>\n
and a figure of a hart darting in a feral<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
blur through trees. The joy when some<\/p>\n
hand behind you lets go and sends you<\/p>\n
running down the open snowy road,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and you are yourself again or for the first<\/p>\n
time. Though now what use is there<\/p>\n
to tense the metal leash. Now to learn<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
to work the new trick: one who waits.<\/p>\n
It was long ago you learned to stand<\/p>\n
off. You learned to stand for nothing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That was the beginning of your training.<\/p>\n
That was when the sky was your whole head.<\/p>\n
Now to go on. And to go on. To become<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the sick mule, the tagged skin, gnawed bone.<\/p>\n
To learn the first art with more willingness,<\/p>\n
and then to sit, lie down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From one specimen of the garden \/ you cut me a sprig, which I pocketed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5958,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5951","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n