shards

chair:
looking back into her room
the olsen house
cushing, maine

shards –

in answer to the question:

what is the effect of this fragmentation

After William

Carols Williamses “[Rapid Transit]”

do it I dare you break the mirror you choose

the size you choose the amount

of light its been designed

to ricochet to play

and persuade the eye there’s more always

more light where

that came from to make it finally

back to you and now

at that you’ve

thrown it and

all the angles are

randomly

scattered

save the frame

(yes, save the frame

you’ll need each piece to fit

back) but in this exercise

let it slip

                                when it’s still

                whole

gently, as if you’ve suffered

some intimate shock, as if you haven’t

been asked

to absorb it yet

(it hasn’t got

to that)

while it hovers, a tiny

winged

fly

behind your head

don’t hold it high

and smash it don’t

pull it back

behind you

and smash it

and heave it

down

at your feet

this isn’t that

sort of request—listen when I saw

my mother die right

before my eyes what I was gripping

didn’t struggle it just went limp

but not a heavy taking on

water limp.  a letting go

of water limp.  In the sun say.  an off-

                                                                ering’s

offering -- a making it all

lighter:

the sun wants the water

back, even though it’s different water than what it was

washed in, still it wants it

back.)

the mirror

i asked you

to drop

is at your feet.

bend into it.  don’t

pick it up until you see

your face.  and then, don’t hesitate.