things built & things uncovered

things built & things uncovered

these wrinkles of sky & ice

are where they always seem to meet—

at least these were the words

that came to him unbidden

(as if the Universe had spoken)

then he saw her coming toward him—

but it wasn’t her—of course—

a shape recalling her to him—

flinging open the doors to her—

these rooms that held all of her

that lived in his mind—like bone—

things built—he knew—can never stand

against things uncovered—

things in his bones—

hidden like yellow folded into blue for green

held like yellow folded into red for orange

he used nails—no tape or glue—

but things hammered never lasted—

pieces and parts rebuilt into that—

this was his thing—he imagined—

hiding his shovel and always always looking

for the right place to dig—the right place—

and then he realized it all so clearly—

if he ever slipped and fell—hers

was the hand he would most like to be offered—