Sunday, October 20, 2013

Hocus, Focus


It’s hard to track something
Unknown
I’m not sure what “focus” feels
Like, smells like
How it pings or ripples
The ionizing pattern of its
Path

Difficult for you to teach what you can’t
Circumscribe, define
Display for me to
Imitate

A black box, known only by its
Outputs—evidentiary
Success

Or thrown into relief by
Antonymic stats: it’s not
following a script
correcting my mistakes
obsessing on results

On the few occasions focus
Answered my petition, it
Powered in so strong, it
Swept away all trace
When it moved on
Leaving only pixels in its wake
Backscatter on my soul

Here’s what little I recall:

Beneath my thumping heart my
Threaded breath
A low internal thrum, a tuning fork
Vibration that aligned my
Hand, and foot and
Eye

An almost absent self
Out-of-body seeing splendid moves from
Slight remove

A blessed lack of
Thought

It
Felt
Good



Sunday, October 6, 2013

Engagements


If pools are
Speed dates
Blurred with first impressions
Sound bites, smooth lines
Snap judgments
Eenie Meenie
Moe

DEs are the second date, and third
Trapped together long enough to
Flaunt a broader repertoire
Scout habits, reflex, preferences
Test compatibility

Often it is touch for touch
4-5, 8-6, 9-8
Until at last, one fencer or the other
Penetrates the masquerade and
Pulls ahead to finish 15-9
Or 10

Nine minutes is enough to
Court
Commit
Break up

Honey Badger Love from Bonjour Poupette