performance poet at best
with the audience floating on their backs
as she pours out a response to the wind
that blocks his silent stanzas.
with the audience, he wonders
about the "you" in her poem
and its few repetitions
overshadowed by the radical number of
capitalized "I"s and accentuated "me"s.
wonders about the piranhas
seeking a pair of ears, a pair of eyes,
a writing hand, and an adam's apple.
but non-reciprocally, up and down the hills of campus,
he tap dances strongly without her love
as the image of her closed apartment door
and the sound of her answering machine
maximize.
yet in front of admissions,
cold wind mocks as confusion
engirths her friend.
and there on stage she wonders
why his eyes perform differently
whenever he steps off stage.
but this night it's she, not he, who's afraid, or nervous,
not about him, but about cold wind
deflecting off a wall
as a spotlight.