The hardest part of this becoming

real, of fighting tooth-and-nail to

see and to be seen? There will

never be answers, clear endings,

agreed-upon statements of fact.

We leave that to the friends, no

longer so mutual.

There is not even the tense moment

of agreeing to disagree. We agreed

upon nothing substantial aloud.

Yes and no do not count. I am not

certain we agree on this, either.

Dirt on paper, dark marks on screen:

we fumble, stumble, bumble.

We read too much into the words,

or not enough. You don’t realize

I am not talking about you.