Out Walking

We don’t know how to behave.

As in adolescence, we stand uneasily

At awkward distances from one another.

As in adolescence, we stand uneasily

In this new space, revising

All that we’ve been taught.

In this new space, revising

The meaning of breath, hand, touch, near,

Our bodies become foreign to us.

The meaning of breath, hand, touch, of near

Misses and close calls, becomes obsessive.

Even the air between us is charged now.

Misses and close calls become obsessive.

Better to stay in the one safe place,

Alone but uninfected. The new monasticism.

Better to stay in the one safe place

Than become a number. The days

Stop counting themselves, simply march on.

Become number. The days

Are the same and utterly different.

Only a fool would complain about being alive.

The same and utterly different,

We don’t know how to behave.

As in adolescence, we stand uneasily

At awkward distances from one another.