Coefficient
About the star-cold abundance of August sand—
this spell of my two hands working in the dark
I liken to the feeling of your two hands working
behind me, or your two hands coming before me
in the white mirth of bright drapes, white lengths
the wind sends in salt-light through the feeling
your two hands have in coming to find me.
There are things I liken to crossbeams
inside of things I call politeness, things I liken to super-
intendence, seashells, pale hosts of erosions, fadings
I liken to insight. There in the window
of your soloist house, I think that nothing
is holding up
this thought that is feeling you moving.
"Coefficient" from Green is the Orator by Sarah Gridley. Copyright 2010 © by Sarah Gridley. Reprinted with permission of University of California Press.