To Be

ODE

Loins and breath.

Moonlight melting
In the throat of a calla lily.

Thickets of young maple
Just breaking bud.

All you have to be
Is who you are,

Naked beyond the body,
A touch at a time.

PALINODE

All you have to be
Is who you are?
What could have I possibly
Meant by that

If part of you
Is who you dream you could be
If you weren’t the piddling little dimwit
You actually are,

As if the “real you”
Is the one who sits around wondering who
The real you is–

Or if you’ve ever wished you were
Someone else, anybody–

An accountant in Coronado,
A dishwasher in a second-rate Omaha steakhouse–

Or if you can follow this,
Or still care,
You’re probably really screwed up

Or close enough
To be welcomed as a friend.