zinc metaphor

the dream is of
a landscape littered
solely
with its own length
and its own breadth:

a space, crumpled
between substance and
concept like

a sheet gripped
in clutching hands.

turned this way and that
i am a snow globe of positions.


the things i do not allow myself
are only the things i need

if i cannot cajole this one
pathetic miracle--
the rough pleating
of substance
and concept--
into the length and breadth
of my hands.