Any point
in an elliptical orbit
might as well be the end
as the beginning
someone who must meet you
has just been born
someone who you have met
has just died
on the road
to the chapel of influence
or the bright silver hospital
of exegesis
a crow overhead
a scavenger bird
alights on the path
and denudes you with his
bewildering rasp
all mouth, but no voice
you are given two options
express your ideas
and suffer the risks
of their getting pecked
and shredded apart
lay your beating heart down
naked and liable
to be picked clean
of all its feeling
or else choose
later on to read in the paper
of the silent auction of both
and suffer
the same humiliation alone.
