Something Like We Did III

We were trying to open up to the world that we didn’t even know exists.
—Anthony Braxton, interview with Gerry Hemingway on September 1, 2013, in Willisau, Switzerland

The way you
would squint
at an aphid
on your wrist

they watched me—
the way someone
watches a baby bird
fallen to the ground

careful, like children
finding a fish alive
in the grass.


The one who
spoke had clearly
practiced, but

the odd stops
and blue notes
shaped the inflections

so, for a moment
English was played
like a marimba:


something about
speed without
motion—travel

like memory—
as if space itself
were obsolete.


Like testing a fabric,
the silent one tugged
my lip. I opened

both hands:
palms flat, fingers
straight: they

watched as if
my answer
would appear
Source: Poetry (September 2023)