What I'd Like

I’d like to know why you hate other boys so much: Why you don’t like laughing, And why you always skip lunch. To watch the timekeeper in your head Throw on his overalls, kiss his wife goodbye, and go to work— How might you react when long into the day He wipes his brow to take a break And your heart skips a beat? In the instant without the throbbing pulse I can hear The drum you walk to. I’d like to float down your stream of consciousness, Though I can’t swim (but I am willing to learn). I’d learn about all your works and all your days, All your fears and all your flaws, Your favorite foods, least favorite laws. In a dream, some dusty whispered-of memories you showed me in your library Resonate inside my mind like the grandfather clock awaking its sleeping namesake in the corner; And I, now floating in your thoughts (barely above the surface) Indescribable distances away from the bottom Flail and splash while I scream “Eureka!” Simple men, they call it drowning, Simpler men, they call it drownding As for me, I’d say it was astounding; The water was breaths of fresh air. So I run naked into the street, Shouting, “Eureka! I have found a soul!” Places are faces, and faces are places It’s all a blur to me; All I can do is think to myself: Thank Chance that we were to meet.