think back

Say an idea is math
without numbers.

For instance, you could say
that an idea
distorts consciousness
as a massive object
distorts space.

Such distortion
is sometimes known
as attraction.

It pulls
a debris field
into orbit

(or a halo of microplastics).

You slip
from one thought
to the next
as a snake
sloughs off old skin.

Thinking back
is less reliable
than you might think.

the book

1.

The poet uses enjambment
so that the reader
has the constant
small pleasure
of thinking, “Oh, that
makes sense,
after all.”

⧫

So that the reader
and writer
share mixed feelings—
shame at falling
for this easy trick
and the satisfaction
of catching one’s
fall

midair,

as one hugs oneself
in bed before
submitting to sleep.

2.

God doesn’t skim
to get to the good
part. This

is the first mystery
of God.
He is in no hurry

to meet his own
image.

For millennia, he sets
sea scorpion
against scorpion,

swiveling
in their clunky armor,
brandishing their erect
tails.

Forever is nothing.

When he does see someone
looking back,
he screams,

“Stop imitating me!”