in doing so
i do yes, i do
take two knees to the carpeted
floor of my daughter’s room and,
with her forehead on the meat of
my right arm, show her, with
accuracy, how it is that she
is watched over.
she does yes, she does
manage to sit through what
seems like a onesidedundialogue
and she does, yes she does manage
to catch on to the routine of
the thing, and say, in turn,
prompted by my pause, a word
of agreement, a yes or yessir that,
for her, might be more of a period
than a nod. regardless we
do and, in doing so, so
it is done.
however it
occurs to me that
although there is much
to be said for
doing out of habit, more is
said from an unconditioned
tongue than can be said
by any instinct (if
there were ever and evenif to consider
it most assuredly would be this one)
so, it occurs, to me now,
and did when i first set out to
make this covering known to her that
rhythmic-this-and-rhythmic-that
then empty-line then empty-line
though seated in the lap of
odd tradition is dia
metrically opposed to this art
of deposition, as there exists
a very legible style guide
governing this phenomena.