We never could watch
Each other watching
Each other
So we speak without aim
Each miss flares to brief smoke
Surrounding us in tearing haze
My words bounce without echo
Yours are few but those that hit
Claw desperately seeking attention
I baited you unprotected
You caught me and released me
When I refused to escape
Now I'm back in my shell
Hard, unyielding, but littered with holes
Yours envelopes clear and seamless
An illusive bubble
That flattens at close range
But never quite reaches you
Sometimes I thought it thinned
Exposing you raw like half-healed flesh
Before you snapped away
The liquid of my words
Now only slides unchanged
Or bounces back to useless spheres
If I try to tear you open
With little stabs
It is because I know no other way
Of intercepting you on your path
Away from me
Written May 12-17, 1986
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