Suppose I say the hardest thing to say.
In a famous drawing two black silhouettes
gaze at each other, noses almost touching.

Paul the Leader
at Corinth said,
"Phoebe, please go to Ephesus .

At that critical moment, she whispered later, the panic
   of absolute doubt breathed on her left breast
While he was touching her right: what if this light reflected

It begins in blindness: taste of invisible ink;
black mouthful of discreet syllables,
punishable. Shrouded in touch, at the shut

Zeuxis painted grapes so real
that birds came down
to peck, but Parrhasius painted

I do not recall who trapped me in that darkness
The world knows as a vessel of light,
By what cruel trick or Asian sorcery

He jettisoned our aspersions with sailing gestures ,
sucking clean the invidious indifference,
spitting unethical sounds that pealed the spirit,

I can hear the prayer echoing inside
my head, but cannot make the chamber speak.

First, you must collect the unfamiliar
pieces, this dither, toward a central hub.
Do not, though, mistake pretended order

No rain for weeks, cows hold
their milk within covetous udders.

The river lies still as an infant