i am


you are the mantra i have never spoken fully,
chanted a thousand times.

you are the river beginning its journey to
the ocean, dried in mid-summer.

you are the cadence i never learned, the drum
played only in practice.

you are the day with an eclipsed sun, invisible
venus rising in a dark phase.

you are the forgotten word on the tip of the tongue,
the lost language among spoken tongues.