poem

 Proprioception

When you know exactly where

You're at you don’t need a map.
If you know where you’re going
There’s little reason to look back.
If you’re unequivocally right here
You don't need to consider the over there.

If you aren’t falling there's no
Reason to reach for a ledge.
If you know the answer to the question
Just spit it out, without the stammering hedge.

The answers are rocketing

Up your spinocerebellar tract,

A series of un-ruminated facts
Left from right, up from down

Nails that sooth the itch on your back

Without scratching around.

Sneeze and your hand

Jabs to cover your mouth.

Ambush attacked but

You won't get clowned.

Close your eyes,

Spin in three circles

And your finger finds your nose.

 

Your mind has its ways of sensing space

Before thinking of time or place.

Secret back channel spinal pathways

Where the positional sense always arrives first.
Faster than the wasp's sting

That tells a boy how bad it hurts.

Faster than the sense of loss

That comes before the phone can ring.

Before the shiver that compels you to fetch a coat.

Before you know you're hungry,

Before the bone sticks in your throat.

The first thing is always to know

That at least you're not falling.

We close our eyes before we kiss.
There's nothing left to see

Or hear or smell or think.

We accept all this with a sigh,

Like gravity, like dying.

My head tilts before I'd even decided.

And you'd already angled your jaw

To receive the caress of my lips.

Before we even know

If it's good morning or goodnight,

Whether it's hello or goodbye,

My head is in the right position

Before I even think to say yes.

2/8/21