Swivel on the outside edge
of a chair that won't hold
the things you wouldn't say
to the people you think
care and think back
on the things you did
and didn't do
to make yourself
into a self
that had the characteristics
of your favorite character
and your identification
couldn't become what it was
meant to be
under the conditions
you were born into
without irony
knowing little about
the cynicisms; you would
bathe in the happy bathtub
until the water went luke
warm you could pretend
that geothermal life
means getting close to
molten iron
and refusing the adjectives
that come with language
and its historical analysis
which you both crave and abhor
abjuring your claim
to a last name
a role call that you answered
and abruptly hung up
comparing a concept
to an ideal
and wondering
is this what it means
to be in a body
that is mythical with a mind
full of bacteria
but made of the words
that do not bear classification
in the linguistic tradition
of people you'll never meet
wondering how
far from the ground
you need to get
to occupy space
and what that might mean
for your time
to the left.
Roman Ryan 