figure_eight
raze each loop of synthetic
rubber and polyester
that holds my hair in place
spins itself into a number
one step past the integer
i most want to see
staring back at me

symbolic, i'm told,
of an effort to reconcile
the spiritual and material worlds,
with broken bits of protein
jammed between the teeth
of the tired metaphor.

i don't think it means
much of anything outside
of this: a twisted thing
will always try to sculpt
itself into the suggestion
of a familiar form.

the idea isn't to send
a signal to someone receptive
enough to make sense of it,
but for the object to prove
it's more than a mistake
built by inordinate tension
and the toll it takes.
241107
what's it to you?
who go
blather
from