| 1 | in Texas, the thick heat. | 1 | You know the clouds spread low |
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| 2 | Sidewalks as the dusk | 2 | Joanna Klink |
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| 3 | darkens, the highway’s | 3 | |
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| 4 | streaking lights. | 4 | in Texas, the thick nights. Sidewalks as the dusk darkens, |
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| 5 | Some people are always | 5 | the highway’s streaking lights. |
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| 6 | in a hurry, beautifully— | 6 | |
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| 7 | some stop to tilt their heads | 7 | Some people are always in a hurry, beautifully— |
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| 8 | at a cloud or strange sound. | 8 | some stop to tilt their heads |
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| 9 | You know the way some people | 9 | at a cloud or strange sound. |
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| 10 | belong so much to one another | 10 | |
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| 11 | they seem not to | 11 | You know the way some people belong |
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| 12 | notice one another. | 12 | so much to one another |
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| 13 | Some people seem to ask | 13 | they seem not to notice one another. |
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| 14 | for nothing—not years, | 14 | |
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| 15 | not even words. | 15 | Even though I’d hardly noticed you |
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| 16 | Could I wrap a thin | 16 | I let my eyes be stopped by you. |
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| 17 | evening coat around | 17 | |
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| 18 | my shoulders and step | 18 | What I felt in my hands was an easy fire, almost |
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| 19 | out with you saying | 19 | effortless. But what did I feel |
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| 20 | nothing? The aquifer | 20 | in my arms. Sun |
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| 21 | below us very still, | 21 | rushing through weeds. |
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| 22 | the black trees in the park. | 22 | |
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| 23 | Insects buzzing | 23 | What cuts through your eyes are dry blues and sloping lines, |
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| 24 | low to the ground. | 24 | like a woman’s back |
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| 25 | To stand next to your body | 25 | as she reaches for a glass of water. |
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| 26 | without puzzlement or | 26 | |
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| 27 | distrust, a scent of mowed grass, | 27 | You spend a morning before the canvas, casting space. |
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| 28 | the drop of a hand— | 28 | |
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| 29 | you brought your hand | 29 | How have you reached this point in your life. |
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| 30 | to my face and grasped | 30 | |
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| 31 | my neck—playful | 31 | You live in a whole world, with a tangled garden |
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| 32 | and senseless. | 32 | and a sense of time. |
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| 33 | You know how | 33 | The hazards held a little at bay. |
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| 34 | things we didn’t bother | 34 | |
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| 35 | to say now take up | 35 | Sometimes you ask yourself questions you cannot |
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| 36 | space that expands | 36 | answer. You dwell there too long. |
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| 37 | out. Cool afternoons in | 37 | |
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| 38 | October—the sun | 38 | You know some people seem to ask for nothing— |
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| 39 | returns—but I’ve been | 39 | not years, not even words. But they are asking. |
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| 40 | through it before. | 40 | |
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| 41 | Then each nightlong | 41 | Shadowless, your paintings tense with red, ghostlines of skin, |
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| 42 | hunger. Each small song. | 42 | a longing so spare I couldn’t |
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| 43 | Whose darkness will one day | 43 | imagine it ending. I would wrap |
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| 44 | be complete. | 44 | a thin evening coat around my shoulders |
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| | 45 | and step out with you |
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| | 46 | saying nothing. |
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| | 47 | |
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| | 48 | The aquifer below us very still, the black trees |
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| | 49 | in the park. Insects |
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| | 50 | buzzing low to the ground. |
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| | 51 | |
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| | 52 | To stand next to your body without puzzlement or distrust, |
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| | 53 | smell of dry grass, |
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| | 54 | the cells of daylight in a leaf, the drop |
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| | 55 | of a hand—you brought your hand |
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| | 56 | to my face and grasped my neck, |
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| | 57 | metallic—playful and senseless. |
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| | 58 | |
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| | 59 | You know how things we didn’t bother to say |
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| | 60 | have now taken up a space that extends |
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| | 61 | out. The sun returns. |
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| | 62 | |
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| | 63 | A jolt in the muscle, a loss, |
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| | 64 | but you’ve been through it before. |
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| | 65 | |
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| | 66 | Cool afternoons in October you spend by the window. |
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| | 67 | Each unarrested |
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| | 68 | habit. A faint splash of leaves. |
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| | 69 | |
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| | 70 | And each nightlong hunger. |
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| | 71 | |
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| | 72 | Each small song, whose darkness |
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| | 73 | will one day be complete. |
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