MEDITATION ON THE VERANDA

Bliss—right now:

beneath a blue jade

vine’s beaded bangs,

my sonar function

asleep, the I unstressed,

a syllable glided over.

(Except wherever

in the line it’s placed,

the I is stressed.)

Behind me, a lipstick palm.

In front of me, the early

stages of sunrise,

the world before

highlighter’s applied.