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And This Deadens That
(December 19, 2020)
And this deadens that
Barking sound
That came to us in early winter
Cautiously we peer out
From behind tent folds
House doors
Sheer curtains
Knowing that silence
Is short lived
We peruse all that has fallen
Without a drip of exertion
Without a glint of surprise
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The memory of seven hills
We have traversed
Seven retellings of the human fable
We observe the swine king
From an ancient private distance
Dangling our legs
From the rims of clouds
We still wonder at our purpose
Even as our carelessness
Fades with the years
We still simmer our evening coffee
With the same swirled tempo
That turns skies
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And we writhe
In our learned docility
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Hoping that an impending rain
We've yet to smell
Is the reason why our deliverance
Hasn’t come
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