page 27

watch under the rim
of your coffee cup;

at the café, lunch hour
talks her usual tunes by way

of clinks, tinks, words,
chairs scarring wooden floor.

if given the choice,
birds orient their breasted feathers

towards windows;

unbeknownst to them
flight patterns are innate;

while eating, they are unaware of the

beautiful exit.

:::

friendship is continual intention;

a contract is constructed and rewritten 

at every encounter, and promises are kept 

by the hour, and flaws are as visible as

an opened flower. 

every action is a reaction to an intent--

a reason that continuously relents,

unless it is broken.

continue with the other without accident

because intention is what makes elegant 

the bond between two---the mutual agreement 

to maintain what currently exists.

when a friend replies with intent,

that is an act of love that cannot repent.

:::

close to me, You ask

Am I fire to you?

smirking, i respond,

"No, you're not."

Ok well, what am I to you?

"Something better."

What then?

"The inception of heat";

     "The primordial source";

"The essence of flame";

     "You are that which came first."

:::

are curses of his mind

in the cursive that he writes?

what chasms does he quill about?

is the author the hoe

and the book, the soil of his furrowed brow?

how fast can the scythe of his thoughts cut?

and what, are they cutting?

weeds? trees? jungle greens?

is there new growth to be planted?

:::

cheetah and panther meet
occasionally and exchange advice;

the panther asks the cheetah
of his quick catchings,

and the cheetah asks
the panther of her agile movings.

one day, the cheetah asks:

"How do you blend in
when you show with darkness?"

Because prey do not see my darkness.

Look at my eyes.
They look only at my eyes--my twin, Paris greens;

When fear is all you feel,
fear is all you see.