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