.

Looking back, search for the disharmonious image;
anticipating what may come,
prepare a smooth transition.
--Lu Chi's Wen Fu

harder, still, than letting the space lay blank
is going through the mess on the floor
to pack away in boxes, to send away in boxes.
it is with pride i let these pieces sleep unarranged,
cannot bear to make the correct repairs,
afraid that polish and varnish and shipping twine might
eclipse these bare bones of feeling.
better to let them instead become overwhelmed
by a film of neglect, forgetfulness, dust.

at night i push the blankets off me,
dwelling on what-went-wrongs and might-have-beens,
a dreamscape littered with wounds.