HEART THREAD 163 & 164

163.

Hard to read the numbers in this
light

go by the feel of the machine road
through water

voices in the street fear of
believing

whatever they say must be wrong way
round

nobody out there speaks our language

urgent children touching in the dark

who are those who move around inside
me

she walks by with a woodpecker on her
back

to prove that language is a function
of the skin

because language is all boundary

a walled garden and a maze at the
middle

and a mirror globe at the center with
roses all round it.

164.

Collecting stamps and never sending
mail

nobody writes letters anymore

people are afraid of words in the
hand

let Bach tell me six times what to do
next

translate into something we can keep
inside

inside us or in our household god domovoi

Lisa’s plump white arms in Ivan’s
dying brain

we have to know though where
everything belongs

o Egypt I am weak the rolled-up
carpet weighs too much

all the streets led up to the castle where
no one lives

you have to keep it all inside la
musique

and when the morning finally comes
the string will break.

ROBERT
KELLY