“To love is to be a fish.
My boat wallows in the sea.
You who are free,
rescue the dead.”
—David Ignatow (“Rescue the Dead”)

to find a secret hollow
in an open field
to be

so fermented
to listen only
to the lowest ones

to harbor and worry
memories
to wear them out

to give an imaginary friend
the silent treatment
a muse a leave of absence
a guardian angel permission
to tweet what’s seen
when you lock the door at night

to release your grip
on the balcony rail
to choose to live nowhere

near the scene
of your last kiss
with anyone not just him

to believe in
marionette strings
more than a mannequin pose

is to be
the rescuer
and the rescued