Sometimes I see you, a glimpse out the corner of my eye. Sometimes it's startling, like turning the corner to find yourself face-to-face with an empty hallway where you expected your high-school nemesis, or that girl you never liked. Sometimes it's not. _________Am I wrong?_________ You tapped me on the shoulder yesterday_________ when I wasn't thinking of you,_________ and shook your head yes._________ 'It surprises me that you can exist without my attention',_________ I told you. You laughed in that one way,_________ like silver bells shattering to bits.
Sometimes I worry that having you in my head is unusual,
because I look around at my friends, and they all seem so lonely.
And sometimes you tell me I must have done things right
back then, in my quietude,
spinning you out of air and starlight and a healthy dose of
brackish pondwater,
which explains your bitterness.
And I stand in the grotto and say
"Sometimes I dream you,
"misbegotten thing that you are,"
And you laugh at me as you throw back my fish.