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"There": where he left me (inspired by the syntactical techniques of e.e. cummings)


when he spotted the abandoned clothesline he knew it would be

a safe place to hang his drenched fabrics to dry

(safety was always his priority; practical thinkers are

vigilant thinkers, yet his spontaneity, truly atypical for someone

so thoughtful, enabled this abrupt stop)

 

he (thoughtfully) unloaded his loot (really… he was always

cautious and [guarded]; the sort of Gentleman who would never think of you

                                                         high[ly]

and would likely even chastise you for driving far too recklessly on the          way,

despite your nagging yearning for rapidness)

 

the clothesline has been

                   There for a while

          it remains

                   There still. 

 

he pinned you up, along with his various articles of fabric

(cotton and yourself left to dangle on a braid of cotton, would-have-beens

and yourself left to dangle between wooden shafts) and scanned the stars

above

his head for nothing in particular (after all,

 

you always were the one who said you wanted

“nothing in particular” to exist between you two).

he knew fully that mo(u)rning would come eventually;

he was not eager to stay around to watch its Rise

 

upon the task’s completion (yes, yes he was vigilant, but he bored easily of tedious tasks;

you were likely only a task to him nonetheless)

he promptly started his car and drove            away                a little too

recklessly and a little too rapidly

 

he left you

            There

to dry              or to not

you knew he had solidified your abandonment thoughtfully, in the same way that

he knew (but did not earnestly anticipate) that you might eternally remain

                                                                                                            dangling

There

 

         drenched.

you watch him depart and

feel as frightened as he would have been had

he stayed that morning and seen the Rise

(yes, yes he was vigilant, but he bored easily of tedious tasks;

you were likely only a task to him nonetheless)

 

you dangle

                    There for a while

          you dangle

                    There still.

(what other choice do you have?)

 

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