textile turmoil

the cloth of rough coats makes me shiver
like some do after blackboard rage
hearing nails and slate collide in battle
their ears witness to a war between
physics and human power
who will win?
their ears say no one, i say fate.

in the same way, sans sound
my body takes on the weight of the world
all of its friction
when i am adorned in my coat
and grain against grain
body against arm
frame against frame
develops small bristles on my body
starting at my breast
working outward onto arms
spreading shields of protection
to wage this war of texture

i am certain that this microcosmic
tension since childhood
has given me my sharp sense of good and evil
and the numbness I feel
(one cannot forget the numbness)
after deepest pain and highest joy
for the sharp stabs of agony and bliss
incite similar shivers
and i ignore them for i am confused whether
my body is registering its simple revulsion
for grain against grain
or if it is alarming me of my soul’s celebration
or despair
over inner events taking my body by hostile takeover
one can never be sure.

- March 6, 2007