THE GATE
Excerpt LIV
He put the two bags on the step to open his door.
The hallway mirror told him, you’re young, he knew it;
the youngest old man, at 65, the most handsome
both boys and girls copy the way he holds his cigarette
two grapes at his back teeth
a phrase of the unsaid under his tongue
already ready; he called a flash and it shone
he dragged his finger on the glass, removed the dust
he saw the elongated eyes smiling at him.
Each hidden thing yearns to be revealed
this grace is gifted to me, he said, I’ve worked on it
beyond arrogance beyond the unachievable; the spider
sauntered on my finger; go ahead I said to it; I paid
attention to its posture, behavior
I graced it with a place in the world. Thank you,
they told me and I heard it. My last part was
gratitude.
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