The woman from New York
told me that in New York
you could be nothing too special
because there were so many clever people
genuises around every corner
you were never quite as
estuary
her breath, a full length
for every bay, the raft
of lashed boards
and fabric drag
skirting through eelgrass
a thin towel, one lung
pressed on volume
flounders. the fluke muddied
under
Dear M,
“The secret name is the gesture that restores the creature to the unexpressed.”–
from Profanations by Giorgio Agamben
I am writing you as early as now, hoping this letter finds you
It comes upon me to clean my bedroom, to put
away the clothes on the headboard, the lingerie on the dresser,
and last night’s shoes lying underneath my small table.
It is