The Hug
After Hughes, Kirk, Adedayo Agaru, Laura Olson (catechist)
For C.W.M.
“I loved my friend.
He went away from me.”
In the aftermath of the embrace——
In the broadening of the seperation between the one going
Coming Down
And the One remaining in that place away from places——
The increasing distance between two hearts
Is not negative,
Empty,
But rather is filled with that expansion of love
Which pours out from the cracks in amphorous memory-vessels.
As words, ideas dissolve into dimly lit exhales under Red Oaks;
Cyan leaves, lime waters, the invisible presence;
A 6-person home whose defined borders collapse into browns and lengths,
Into candles, jazz, and feelings,
Yes, feelings——of something or other.
But how could one forget the doing of dishes, the hands and feet, the service,
The conviction,
The hope and the affliction,
The strecthing limbs as
Gifts offered in mutual recognition?
And when our plane of faith no longer covers half a geography
But becomes contented to fill a room,
Perhaps that writer will again come to us;
While he picks at his scalp and cuticles
We can convince him of whatever we want!
A silly dream of vision,
Identity,
Passing away——
We won’t dream,
and we won’t dream of remaining.
When he finally lets our dyad alone,
All three of us will be gathered there;
Our souls will be as close as they once were
Before All Ages.
Command:
“C.W.M., I command you to go to sleep and dream.”
Response:
“Aw, dream, ohh, what am I ‘gon dream about?
I done dreamt all I can dream in life;
I’m tryna wake up and live and make some money offa dreams that
That people been making money off of my dreams.
You know, everything I dreamt about…
Christmas trees——no good
You know I ain’t gon go for nun like that,
I chop you down, then what’s gon be happenin’…?
We are the ones tryna wake up——you don’t want me to go sleep;
I chop you down and you’ll be dead…
I gotta tree at home that’s mean
That was planted back in 1930 sum,
You know the big Ol' Oak Tree, Wes?
You scared of him, chiggers ‘n shit
How’s Hitler a tree:
I went to—I went by some forest the other day——
A woman was makin’ love to tree
But she, you know, she didn’t get no satisfaction…a tree don’t last long…
I chop you down. I chop you down.”
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