It can be understood
through tough thorough thought though
thought that has thought it through
then thought again
then thought it wrong.
Through.
Though.
Trough.
Rough.
Cough.
Bough.
The mouth learns none of them
the same way twice.
Read what you read
before you read it again.
Lead follows lead
until weight decides the sound.
A wound winds itself tighter
the moment it is wound.
Tear falls
or tear resists
depending on which way the face breaks.
Close the distance
close the door
close is not close
until breath decides.
Thought presses itself
into a present
that refuses to stay present.
A present is given
a present is happening
both arrive late.
Record the record.
Object to the object.
Conduct the conduct
until meaning flinches.
Minute passes
as minute detail
stalls the sentence mid-step.
Live in what you live.
Bass hums
bass swims
language shrugs.
This is not error.
This is accumulation.
Understanding is crowded here.
Words stack without permission.
Sound leans on spelling
until spelling gives way
and sound keeps going.
Desert the desert
or stay and dry out.
Refuse the refuse.
Polish the polish.
Thought does not glide.
It grinds.
Through tough thorough thought though
the tongue thickens,
the teeth become gates,
the sentence jams itself
into the narrowest opening
it can still pass through.
If frustration rises
it means the system is working.
If the reader slows,
stops,
restarts,
mispronounces silently,
the poem has entered the body.
Meaning is not lost.
It is delayed.
Compressed.
Forced to announce itself
through resistance.
It can be understood
through tough thorough thought though
but only if thought agrees
to be read
and read
and read
differently each time.
