1
It was a desire to jump narratives—
to find himself suddenly
encircled by different lights
in the distant hills. To find
the hum of the engine
conveying him forward
had altered its tone. The self
had to be asserted
against that which seemed
merely given: the body’s
untranscendable location—
to step outside it, outside
what was visible
in the mirror in the room.
2
He found himself threaded
through the mouth
by his only narrative,
the body that held it
propelling him forward
through the dark, the light
of that narrative
reaching out to strike
the ground before him
in his only voice.
Copyright @ 2014 by Wayne Miller. Used with permission of the author. This poem appeared in Poem-a-Day on June 11, 2014.