in the flood
“yes of course” was one speech too many
now you’ve done it exposed your
obsequious emphases
hardly speech if disclosing nothing
thought to stay blameless in a
well-tended hothouse that’s now
out of use beyond wear not in your possession
to break out so lay blame on
ritual pronouncements like
the unitary root of the whole is torn
try knitting cozies to hide
your household aporias
a little more than mortal
how yarn can knit a surface
that will flaunt its absences
looking at it as though it were behind you
is how gnats spin a hole in
air & then slip right through it
caterpillars moles lost limbs
try a little blind reaching
surprising what you can find
Copyright © 2017 by Rusty Morrison. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 15, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.