morning’s roll call

there is a certain intensity a certain kind of seeing that seems available to me only when I’ve cast the ballast of work into the waters of a brand new place

it’s habit I hate the gleam is in the going to of things

discipline and depth of feeling I do not lack

a fierce commitment to absence or is it aloneness or singularity

rooted in the continuity of place hangs on

the rift that sings between these two ambitions

experience and creating

and the extent to which I aim with all my might but mostly fall short

that’s the fuel the choke to do it all again

passionate sadness is not depression

that’s too narrow a lane to maintain

bring back melancholy as a state of honor

a quick lapse into silence

they didn’t need me

and I could do something with that