lambda expressions

this is now my fifth retreat
into the glass house
glass ceiling
the best view all around
in the middle of nowhere nothing
in this half life I think
its more cellophane than glass
and sadly, if it tore away
I would still quite enjoy it
each day as I wake to watch
orion cross from side to side
it gets a little harder
to understand why
I cannot submit to reckless decay
and just be
whats in it for me

unsetting a precedent

is a long slow thankless

arduation, with frequent setbacks

a gaggle of blank stares

in polite conversation

a storm of acrimony

in real engagement

a series of minuscule changes

when finally in motion

liable to halt constantly

and reference the inchtape

as a measurement of progress

I can spend forever

climbing out of the box

but my forever is already spent

and I steadily lose hope

of the box dissolving

in my lifetime

*pic is a sculpture at Doha airport

the longest rays

and I remember her
in her dull green skirt
that always fit better than mine
hair so heavy, I half expected
her to spin away
when she turned
she knew how to talk
how to stand, how to be
at a ridiculous age
today when I finally learned
what it is to stand like her
I would rather spin away
than find her again