not I

the model

I used

to formulate

my own work--

those yelps

isolated and

concentrated

emanate as if

from the mouth

spotlit moving lips

relating memories

of someone

not I

(and Mary Barnard's

Sappho fragments)

shaped the

poems and the

commentaries

of this unnameable

entity

an egolessness

corseted by

the circumstances

one makes for one's self

constricting to say Sam

I too am weak

in this dull skin

that is a protection

against not I

and anything else

unreal

that is the theme

consciousness aware

of unconsciousness

and the tug of our skin

and meat vehicles

and the stillness

that comes

when the mouth

ceases its motion

like now...

Content (c) 2008-2010 Philip Milito.