blind(on.demand)

he.searches(for.a.cable);
my.belt(wasn’t.enough);

like.an.exemplary.pious.devotee
i.kneel;
cuticles.torn,
confirming(bone.is.mine);
spine.drawn.straight;
no.pew;

tools.laid.out;
elbow.lengths(folded);
carpet.indented(by.figures)
struck.for.impropriety;

time.behaves.badly;
it.pools;
backflows;
air(impatience.flavoured);

i.weep(not.for.the.stings)
but.for.the.mother
who.lined.her.children
stilled.across.the.room;

the.oldest—
one.eye.forever.closed;
the.other(wide.open);

i.too.squint;
half.witness;
half.blind(on.demand);

lacquered.lashes—
won’t.testify;
just.like.mine;

temper&breath(short);
hands(switch.tools);

spine(receipt.printed);
grace.postured;

tobacco_fumed.light(stagnates);
dust.settles;
small.church(built.of.perception);

curtains
learn
to.drown;

my.face(salted);
dressed.in(purple.blue);
i.reside(under.your.skin);
subdermal;
permanent;

tell.me
this.isn’t.power.

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[image.credit: John Drysdale 1956]