Collapsed Lexicon | Page 93

  93   Without  Ever  Saying  Why  -­‐-­‐for  Rebecca  Jane     From  the  start   You  gave  up  the  straight  line   For  the  lightning  strike,   Riding  beside  me  through  all  those  lost  hours,   During  which  we  plotted  the  sincerest  farces   In  the  dark  before  spinning  into  the  whirls   Of  itinerant  impulse.     They  say  they’re  proud   Without  ever  saying  why—   What  it  is  that  makes  them  so.     Or  else  they  train  their  eyes   On  the  fire,   Not  the  birth  within  the  ashes.     I  try  to  etch  words  that  could  do  you  justice,   Try  to  describe  just  what  you  are:     From  giver  and  rebel  and  rabble-­‐rouser   To  minder  of  moments  still  as  stone,   Shoulderer  of  the  stuck,     Unlucky  multitude,   Shedder  of  light,   Move  maker,   Shaker,   Rule  breaker,     Mother