rhyme & reason

I am rhyme and reason.
I am the resolution of all conflict.

I am the strength of an arm --
not force, but lotus
quiet channeled discipline that shapes destiny through air.
fair, flying, free
not delicate, but grace.
not delicate, no.

I am the innermost point of balance,
of consciousness, of being,
hidden, niched, somewhere between
the lifeblood and Adam's rib,
rib-less
boneless, skinless breast
flayed alive to the point of misinformation
til I cry out in my anguished silence,
never, no. not that, no.

I am floating, lurching
through the fairyland flames that
engulf me and leave behind
a past-laden ash,
born of the question
tomorrow.

I am always more than I thought I was
so filled with the euphoria of a crystalline world.
not untouched, but breakable
it is meant to be loved,
or used
if you happen to call it that.
but not fragile.
not that, no.
she will outlast us all, despite our best efforts.

I am the buried bulb
forgotten inside an earthy bed,
a safe place,
til unearthed again
til barren, rotted
tossed away
behind
left right
no matter --
to the dogs either way.

I am lithe and moving,
always moving in my frame,
this frame of mind
that determines me solid and cloud at once.
not above or beneath
but certainly not on the ground.
not that,
that no-man's land,
no.

I am the gritty sand that crumbles from brick
and flies windward
to pepper the waves with messages.

I am the in out flickering of tail feathers
that slip behind the branch.

I am a string in the harp,
sleeping under a mindful burial ground,
a mountain of time and water,
but not earth.
no.

I am too vast for a single space.

I am twins, shrouded
with hair to their thighs,
whispers alive in their eyes.
so free they cannot be breached,
not even by truth.

I am a stop-time photograph,
captured in still frames that
imagine they have found reality
when really it's just me,
shiftless
shapeless
the spots on the lens.
sometimes I make an appearance,
but you won't see it.
never, no.
eyes? no.
heart? not that, no.

you don't know what it is you're looking for.
you can't pick and choose
the bird in the tree
the twins hiding free
you and me
never, no.
not that, no, no.
I am almost a bird.
I am vast and free.
I am rhyme and reason and me.