introvert curb-appeal
she wants to see out
but not let them see in
a one-way yard
like aviator glasses
or monitored mirrors
she wants community
and to be left to her own devices
to be missed
and to slip through the scene
unseen
she tells them
cut the shrub blocking the window
then thinks better of it
when the job’s half done
she wants to notice
unnoticed
track
without leaving her own prints
she’s like Janus or Gemini
of two opposing minds
hungry for connection
and sated on her own
Hector’s Visit
he’s overcome
each time another animal chooses him
overjoyed they’d share a moment
today when the little dolphin
broke away from her pod
and frolicked all around the boat
saying hello a dozen ways
he was amazed
before that, when massive Toy Soldier
the show jumper nuzzled his shirt
he glowed at being touched
the little owl, blue penguin, purring cheetah
each animal he’s really met
says clearly to him
as if in his mother tongue
you are not alone
reconnects his hairless ape life
to the world of fur feather bone wild
his pressed palm feels a real heart beat
and remembers we’re all one
and someday
he’ll feel that in the tree and fern
skipping river and stinging wind
silent stars and now-cold stone
even the space between cells
the negative cloud where all’s uncertain
even there in the nothingness he’ll sense
we’re all one
he’s tethered to every last bit
including his four chickens
that haven’t yet hatched
shaking hands
saying hello
is not the same
as placing your palm
in another’s grasp
feeling their corporeality
in the flesh
letting the electricity
that is your pulse
connect with their spark
putting yourself
in their hands
for even an instant
