Constant Fear

I do not fear change.
I fear the prospect
that I will flounder in its novelty
the same way I do
in my present comfort.
That even amid fresh beginnings,
there will be no change at all.

Examination

Class is in session.
Pencil to the sheet.
Draw your face close to me.
Your attention’s the lesson.
My sight locked with yours.
Our detention, a blessing.

Regard is curricular.
Education in our rapt gazing.
Become expert in your text.
Highlight each section.
I want to parse your particulars.

Diligent pupils
study the pigment of your iris.
I’d intend to fail that test
to never have to learn your eyelids.

Dread the blink that would end it.
Period to the present,
a beautiful sentence
we pen together
ignorant of minutes and seconds.

The ticks of the clock
til bell tone fills the air.
Ring drowning out words.
But care needs no sound
to be heard.
Only known,
only fixed in a stare.

Mine

In the dark hollow
behind the eyes.
A tickle
at the back of the retina.
Catch a glimpse
of a glimmer.
Recessed in the cavewall.
A gem.
A facet extrapolated.
Its liberation
in the shape
of a sledgehammer.
Or none at all.
Slammed against the rock
through the dim.
Heavy,
imprecise blows
smash away mineral
in rough
estimations.
At barrage’s end,
may enough
of the precious stone survive
that I would still
see it
and call it mine.