to be precise
outlive this stilted, finite
language?
Can an absence
in the syncopation
still be felt
ahead of time?
If so, where
in the bar
does the feeling
occur?
*
I don't believe
for a minute
in self-estrangement,
no matter
how much the lack
of encouragement hurts.
The perfume
of truth
has been liberally daubed
on all of the homeliest
words in these sentences,
in hopes of bootstrapping
tripe to blank verse;
but whatever I
"meant to say"
will have to suffice,
since the alternative
reading would
sound even worse.