a work-in-progress

The Fundamental Difference between Yes and No

The body says it first.
The cause is the effect,
action undifferentiated from intent –
the blind rooting at the breast
or the blood-filled face
compressed with effort.

Confusion comes with language
and social genuflections, when
word and deed signify
a subtle deconstruction -

but in their reverberation -
the virgin girl pinned braless
to the rough upholstery, the man
watching his wife back down
the driveway rolling gravel
under luggage weight -

the housewife swallowing the always
stillborn argument, the fourth-grade boy
shrugging the shirt's sting into cigarette
burns to dodge the teacher's question -

look to the eyes stitched tightly
at the corners, the planked gallows
in the shoulders, the bloodless
anchor in the jaw.

Look to the rakes forged from
the fingers, the fire flare
that rims the nose, the winched
cords pulsing in the neck.

The body says it first.