Pass

I can’t underline anything

without crossing it out

(at least partially)

if not completely.

In writing that line

I made so many mistakes

can I gain my own forgiveness?

            ….with the same tools

with which I crucified myself.

That lad who passed upon greenery lake

saw inside himself: the earth rotates

like a dial!

            Revealing the floorplan that holds

the sculptures of my work

as I walk up the steps of Purgatorio

a Kanafani.

Our guide says:

            “No, this is not a time for rest.

                        7 minutes, I’ll leave you

                        in a boiling camel tank

                        of scorching metal and

                        suffocating air.

                        7 minutes.”

When he came back

our faces had melted off.

Never think that you’re fated

to run the dial;

that’s God’s job.

You’ve been laid off           

of every line of responsibility

from each of the words on this page:

“Can you believe that we’re only

a couple lines, two dimensionally aligned

for your ends to meet your means?”

-Grant Durando