Drafts yank my limbs this way and that
I finally let the sunlight in and collide pen and paper
The moon is full, in the day I feel like the surrounding dark
I, too, turn away sometimes
Sometimes even when I am most needed
I watch the world outside my orbit pass
I cut my feet on triangle protractors and measure the bleeding in inches
I freehand my circles and use the sharpness of a compass to pierce a new hole in my belt
In my mind, the finish line was a mural-adorned plywood arch
A gateway that keeps its promise
Meticulously painted in the image of surrounding scenery
A chain link fence stretched between sky high metal gates
My spine dreams of a stride without backpack
How lucid must I be to climb?
I must trespass in my own future
Measuring this time on a different scale,
And bend my knees to absorb the shock as I collide
And it feels about the same, but later
The darkness obscures the landscape
And I begin to walk rather than run
To stop for a drink of water
To look a compass in the eye
And take its expression of north as true
In this loathing of inconvenience
Celestial, the weight of bodies
I must pause to set it down
The harsh whisper of a zipper, then I can produce a telescope from the mouth of the canvas
Recall the colors beyond the dark
I take photographs with my mind
And scribble about nonsense
Create chronicles from patches of stars
Connecting the dots to watch untold stories unfold
I need space, I tell myself
But it’s been here the entire time, waiting for me