Research

The distance between
my nose and the wall
is four feet three inches
according to this tape
plus the width of my thumb
which measures
a certain distance
nobody is certain of.

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Birds

Sometimes I think I should know
the names of all the birds
I see in the trees in the morning.

Then I wonder what language
I should know them in.
Maybe English and maybe

all of the languages.
There’s no limit to what I think
I should know.

So I stand as still as dirt
and close my eyes and feel
my heart and breathe their talk

to hear their song today.
Tomorrow,
I’ll forget everything.