relations between
strengthening myofibrils
contractile units
truest at the point
of failure a feeling
encouragement
at its simplest
presence as recompense
for such long maltreatment
when was the room
let to strangers
and only the mind
kept private and alone
when did we tie the
red wool band
a time under tension
was it one moment
or a succession of
encroachments that
turned the gentle animal
to something else
there is no sender away
nowhere left to bury
the animal returns
an unlucky omen or
just a soft breathing thing
drawn back to the buckling
and the doe the sound
of familiar voices
known places
my own
