and wherever she is at departure
she begins with
the same luggage
tightly packed sins
folded neatly beside
longings wrapped around
desire and interests
maybe historical
memorabilia
so as she shifts from one
state of self into the next
remember the future
she wants to roll into
and model that being now
masked, upright
shoulder strap across
classical music pipes
into free headset
soy latte post-salad bowl
in the airport, a far cry
from the recollected little metal spoons
and trays of rubbery chicken
on long ago cross Atlantic flights
cavorting in the aisles with brothers for hours
away we go after the prolonged sequestration
toward an unfettered future
(Borges)
inflated ego attack
as in grandiose stance
astride the future
tense with command
hands crumpled in on themselves
a chronic grip
teeth grind day and night
the way rage surges
in cases of escape
opposition to exile
in cases of obedience
servitude or severance
the ideal of memory loss
has vague merit here
one more way to avoid
the terror of perspective
the doorway to elsewhere
stays ajar and Caren appears
having crossed my mind
two years earlier
eventually it links to water
embryonic, the 80%
we ignore so easily as if
this mass of flesh is not illusion
we deny oceanic ripple
aqueous cell structure
salted or clear
our buoyancy
keeping us supple the river
we think won’t dry