THE VOID

The blank page

is like a tent in the desert

before the beggar arrives,

before the soldier's cape

becomes the chapel.

THE EUNUCH

carries the king in his ear.

He serves the crown in his loyal way.

He makes the harem safe.

He does so without the thrill.

And he sings - like a soprano -

and remembers

the marshes

before they were drained.

The king he carries is me.

VITALS

The medical assistant was sassy

when she told me to step on the scale.

She informed me she was a fashionista

when she wrapped my arm in Velcro.

I like taking care of people – 

and I like nice things, she said.

I have a three year old named Phillip,

who says, You can call me Phil.

You like my lipstick?

It’s Radiant Orchid, the color of the year.

You’ll never see me in blue, though.

Wouldn’t be good for the patients

if I was taking their heart rate

looking like a corpse.

The doctor will be with you shortly.

It was good talking with you. 
Remember: Radiant Orchid.

She left smiling and said:

Have a blessed day!                    

Her name was Promise.

THE SYMBOL

Cannot be pinned like a monarch

to a spreading board.

Or bound by brick and mortar.

Is not made from balsa

and finds flight 
from third-grade fingers.

It won’t be grokked

by a scientist’s arrogance.

Or engineered like the Hoover Dam.

Or fit into a pewter thimble.

It is more like an inkling than an idea.

A hint not an answer.

A seeing that shuns windows.

Spore more than acorn.

A light stitched through the dark.

The symbol’s in you.

The symbol’s in me.

The symbol’s Mystery.

It is a cipher no code can crack.

It is like the blank behind these lines
that buoys up this page.