ex libris

have we read all of these books between us?

we are now so stuffed with words
they ooze out from our holes

these books between us

somewhere far back
there was a chapter
that woke me
shook me by the ears
like a wolf

since then it's all been grazing
forgetfulness

if someone bursts in now
some wild ruffian
demanding to know at once the situation

I won't know which book to find it in

it's in all that somewhere
over there over there
I will whisper
gesturing faintly
from my seat in the orchids

as you wheeze
back there in the shadows
where I hear your chair creak

.