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438 lines
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<title>Zk | Unimportant verse about important people</title>
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<h1>Zk | Unimportant verse about important people</h1>
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<article class="content">
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<p><span class="tag">writing</span> <span class="tag">poetry</span> <span class="tag">polyam</span></p>
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Lochiel-->
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<div class="verse">I see your past in cross-processed film,
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in blown-out colors and over-saturation.
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You told me all about it, told me grand stories:
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you were going to go back in time and save the world.
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I see your past in yellows and browns,
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in umber and sienna and amber, in a younger sun.
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You sat and told me how — and you were always sitting —
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you thought past-you dreamt of a future less complicated than today.
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I see your past through film-grain and vignette,
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with a thick white border, space on the bottom to write.
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You told me how you learned so many imperfect things,
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in so many less than ideal ways, always at inopportune times.
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I see your past in architectural drawings of unrealized buildings,
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in paperback covers reaching towards heaven, in trillions of words.
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You figured past you dreamt of, not perfection,
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but a world unconstrained by so many failures.
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I see your past with no me in it,
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and wonder if past-you dreamt of us.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Lutea-->
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<div class="verse">Resuscitating ancient coins in class, we learned,
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takes a toothbrush and olive oil.
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Slow, steady strokes across, around…
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soft bristles dislodging soil
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one speck at a time.
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But no one that day was nearly as blessed,
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seeing a coin shine through
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at the end, full relief brightly expressed,
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as I was to see you smile.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Axiom-->
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<div class="verse">When you arrive,
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the whole world gets slow.
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Sluggish, amber-colored air
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mellows lively conversations.
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Everyone stops, marvels,
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turns eagerly toward you;
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and there are no complaints
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about warming our faces in the sun.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Sparf-->
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<div class="verse">We fit together in the strangest ways
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and seem to seek new seams to savor.
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Such joins are hardly perfect,
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thread tugging fabric unevenly
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unless it’s reinforced over and over again.
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We seem to seek new seams to savor,
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and, weak though they are,
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revel in the imperfect unevenness of joining.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--Krinn-->
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<div class="verse">“Comrade” would I call you,
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and “brave,” and “fierce” and “true”.
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“Lovely” have I called you,
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and hope but to live up to
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the example which you set for me.
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So, comrade, onward, ever onward.
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I know I cannot hope to offer
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much but word on cloying word,
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dull rhymes I strain to proffer:
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small flowers, small gifts, camaraderie.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Peri-->
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<div class="verse">Complementary, clashing anxieties.
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Dull clamor of intersecting feelings.
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Need, desire, craving, jealousy.
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Worry, fear, care, prayerful fretting.
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Love, lust, friendship, a need to share.
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Emotions on emotions on emotions,
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and, often, comfortable silence.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--Judith-->
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<div class="verse">I chose your name.
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To defend, it means. To help.
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I admit, having chosen it,
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that I chose it to defend you.
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When I picked you up by the scruff,
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Dragged you off to that place
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I hoped we could call ours,
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I expected that we’d
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simply find a way to survive.
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I never expected love,
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and rejoice every day in that surprise.
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I chose to collar you.
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I admit it was an experiment,
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I submit to most, but not my partners;
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until then I’d never owned, claimed.
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It felt vulgar, at first,
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greedy, jealous, possessive.
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Through you I learned the joy of possession,
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the love and trust and exactness of terms.
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Owner, partner, love,
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and pup, partner, love.
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My beautiful, my own.
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I’ll hand you off some day.
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I’m a less than ideal owner
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in so many terrible ways:
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I owe you more than you owe me.
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I’ll gather your leash up,
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I’ll let you keep your tag,
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I’ll bow, I’ll kiss you one last time,
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and I’ll bless you and your new keeper.
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And I’ll never stop loving you.
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And I’ll never stop loving you.
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And I’ll never stop loving you.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--Robin-->
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<div class="verse">You, for whom a heart means all feeling —
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You, for whom yeah is an expletive —
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You, for whom even computers sing —
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You, for whom every tangle invites disentangling —
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You, for whom even <strong>I</strong> will rub feet —
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You, for whom shop always follows flop —
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You, for whom words form a squall-line —
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You, for whom I guess I —
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You, for whom —
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You, for whom even —
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You, for whom I reach —
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You, for whom my shit day leads straight to lets talk —
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You, for whom I curate my week’s feelings —
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You, for whom I wait by the month —
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You, for whom I structure my year —
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You, for whom understanding of me seems always in grasp —
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You, for whom my struggles provide no obstacle —
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You and I, from whom us.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--JC-->
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<div class="verse">Tightly wound springs
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Of very carefully
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Not touching.
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Secret words
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To be said
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With confidence.
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Rules.
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Prohibitions.
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Limits.
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Discussions planned,
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Side-channels arranged,
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Whiskey purchased.
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And now anxiety
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Over what it means
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And how to work it.
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Is it worth it for
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Long-standing questions
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To be answered?
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To invite disaster
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For sake of knowledge
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And further dreams?
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Maybe the answer
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Is that tired refrain:
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Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.
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And now we’re
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Awaiting weeks
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Of careful touches.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Zeta-->
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<div class="verse">I could never tell you
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that you feel too much.
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That you feel too hard,
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or that your feelings
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overwhelm and overtake you.
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I could never tell you
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how beautiful that is.
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That I wish I could feel those things,
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that I wish I could feel that way.
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All I can tell you
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is how beautiful you are
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when you feel love.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Margaras-->
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<div class="verse"><em>Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mei raba</em>
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Would that I had the faith
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To pray daily.
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Eleven months to let you go,
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And an amen to end the sorrow.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--Tao-->
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<div class="verse">When a light so far above me shines down,
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I lose my footing, stop, look around,
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and for once, see my way lit before me.
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Through you,
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I learn how I move.
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Through you,
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I see how I act.
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Through you,
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I judge myself.
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When a light so far above me shines down,
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I turn my face to the warmth and bask,
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drawing strength, assured in my steps.
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Through you,
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I recognize my failings.
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Through you,
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I understand my strengths.
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Through you,
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I gain perspective.
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When a light so far above me shines down,
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I reach toward it and grasp at what I can,
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hoping I might somehow gain my own luster.
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Through you,
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I find my place.
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Through you,
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I gain surety.
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Through you,
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I learn who I am.
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When a light so far above me shines down,
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and I fail to shine myself,
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I hope only to reflect what I can.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--JD-->
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<div class="verse">Every time I seek to change
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my life, myself, my love, my name,
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every time I try and broaden my range
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in this shitty, all-encompassing game,
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I hesitate.
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With every change in my life
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comes the terror of maybe losing you
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of maybe being caught in strife
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over such insecurities as few
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have escaped unscathed.
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That you love me still
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reaffirms so many of my choices,
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and I set about with a will,
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ignoring querulous voices
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in favor of your calm laugh.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--JC redux-->
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<div class="verse">Between our houses,
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there is a simple fence -
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not a chasm, not a wall.
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Chain-link, waist high,
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bedecked with sweet-pea
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and set about with violets.
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Something we can tend,
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something to feel good about,
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something between us
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other than nothing.</div>
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<hr />
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<p><q class="comment">In <em>Eigengrau</em></q></p>
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<!--Maelkoth-->
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<div class="verse">Mi glutos mian amon por vi.
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Mi glutos mian amon.
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Mi glutos mian amon por vi
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Kaj frandos la ekflamadon de magnezio,
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Ĝuos la oferbuĉadon,
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Ĝojos la aŭtolizadon
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De sekretaj ĉeloj.
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Mi glutos mian amon por vi.
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Mi glutos mian amon.
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-----
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I will swallow my love for you.
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I will swallow my love.
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I will swallow my love for you
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And relish the magnesium flare,
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Rejoice in immolation,
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Cherish the autolysis
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Of secret cells.
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I will swallow my love for you.
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I will swallow my love.</div>
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<hr />
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<!--Vasha-->
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<div class="verse">I live my life in eternal terror
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of the completeness of your own.
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I take up so little space
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and impinge upon it so gently,
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I only hope that there is space enough
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for a ‘dear’ here and a ‘lovely’ there.
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If beauty is at the edge of the terrifying,
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I live my life in eternal terror.</div>
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<hr />
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<!-- Justin -->
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<div class="verse">Cover me, crush me, compress me.
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Squeeze me down until I fit in your pocket.
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Let me jangle among your keys,
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or slip between bills in your wallet.
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Forget me, let me fray, let me fall apart.
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And, some day, pull me free,
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dust me off, flatten me out,
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and tell me that you love me.</div>
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<hr />
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<!-- Sandy, but she deserves better -->
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<div class="verse">Every day, I learn to say “I love you”
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in a whole new way.
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And every day, I fall short
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of being understood.</div>
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<hr />
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<!-- Dwale -->
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<div class="verse">Beneath that evening’s breeze the sickly sweet
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And brazen scent of countless flow’rs
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Awoke inside of you a darkened sleep
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Of dreams dug deeper than the soil.
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Oh, we are waking minds who missed that scent!
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What hope have we who wait in life,
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Who sit and pray and watch for your next breath?
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Our hope can only reach for ends -
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To wit, to see you wake and meet a mind
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Too keen to weed a garden clean -
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For we exhaled when you breathed in that breeze,
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And flowers wreathe your sleeping form.</div>
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<hr />
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<!-- Echo -->
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<!-- Ey sent:
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Duas coisas amorosas e astutas
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Dê as mãos por um momento breve mas amado.
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Ambos doem enquanto anseiam por coisas;
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Eles querem amor mas provam o medo.
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Alguém estende a mão oferecendo algo novo
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Outro dá um passo em direção à linda luz.
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O amor gira e vai de um para o outro
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Até que seu abraço os transforme em uma cruz.
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-->
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<div class="verse">Restadi, tuŝi, karesi,
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ŝajni tro dolĉa por gustumi,
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paroli, demandi, kunsidi
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tro malfrue por dormi sufiĉe,
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ekflami, bruli, baki,
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rosti en la karboj,
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rondiri ĉiam pli proksime,
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restadi, restadi ĉiam pli longe…
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-----
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To while away, to touch, to kiss,
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to seem too sweet to savor,
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to talk, to ask, to sit together
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too late to sleep enough,
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to flare, to burn, to bake,
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to roast amid the coals,
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to circle around ever closer,
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to linger, to linger ever longer…</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="verse">Take in hand the cup and bowl,
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hold them to your lips and drink.
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In your mouth you hold the coal
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that lights the fire to weld the link
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to bind, to seal, to ring the brink
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and hold the words we’ve said in sync
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despite the lack of pen and ink.
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Take in hand the sword and staff,
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hold them to the sun and speak
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words to form an epigraph:
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no need to trawl the waves and seek
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for knowledge of what makes us weak;
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there’s time enough that we bespeak
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that no two hearts can be unique.</div>
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<hr />
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<div class="verse">Daily we perform our ablutions,
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washing away the grime of existing apart,
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that thin film of not being together.
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Our prayer is one of apophasis,
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an inside-out hesychasm
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defining the undefinable
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by walking its muddy shores.</div>
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</article>
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<p>Page generated on 2023-06-20</p>
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