Being #4

There is a place that’s neither right nor left,

where the senses inhabit the whole landscape,

with all directions open, ready for anything.

But how to settle here, how to dwell

among all this choice? The eyeball’s first to go,

quick to fall on some detail far or near,

and everything follows—face, tongue,

the space between the shoulder blades, tailbone, feet.

How soon we change our shape, favour a side,

look only one way, contort our sense of straight.

How our backbone bends to suit an angle,

build a boundary fence, stiffen into a skew.

What kind of being could keep freedom whole?

Know how to follow all possible ways?

© Simon Brod, 2022