I learned the word disaster meant against the stars,
learned it did not apply to this world; the sky intended
every cruelty.
.....................I watched the boy with no legs draw
pictures of feet for an hour in Study Hall.
............................................. ..................In the hall
of my uncle's rest home I heard the paper voice of a man
so old he'd forgotten he was blind. When a nurse passed
his door, he'd ask "Turn the lights on, would you?"

I learned sadness like a way home from school. I got in
later and later. Some nights I didn't come back at all
but sat up waiting for myself.
............................................. .I passed Geography,
History, & Spanish for the last time. My cat died.
My dog turned grey. My physics teacher was hit
by an ambulance.
But I read a book & understood it.
A woman asked me to touch her body. I did.
............................................. ........................I wrote
my first poem. It said people were like moons. I believed
what I wrote, believed I had done all my writing, wouldn't
do anymore.
.....................Then I believed a book that said the oleanders
behind our house were poison. All summer I dreamed
of meeting someone I could feed one brutal flower.