if you are lucky,
he notices scarlet on the top
of your tights
as you replace each page;
as you become the
walking lake flooding
the wake that held
you, and he becomes
the witness that love
is shaking sometimes
but still sharp,
inverted

and with purpose,
the utility that seizes
to deconstruct,
to create with its
generous efficacy;
make more of less,
make more of one solid square,
make moats of larger masses
retaining density

to protect.
not the surgeon
but the undulation:
the quiver of the knife
when the first wave
hits.

“4.“