I gaze upon her at the walk-in clinic
only the two of us
she carries a brilliant white bowl made of clay
her name scratched into the white glaze
I said haven’t I met you before
she said a long time ago
in the library at Alexandria
I said why are you here
she said the people who started the fire
arrested me for reading Ovid
they sentenced me to life without honey
I said what is the bowl for she didn’t speak
I thought my conversation bothersome
& fell quiet
she said I read Ovid at the speed of light
I said like a honeybee
she said honeybees are slower than the speed of light
I snap my fingers like a jazz musician
You got it!
Honeybees are slower than the speed of light!
She said it might be the title of a brilliant love poem
about snails
I said two snails conceptually in love
she said you have to become healthy
I said what’s wrong with me
she said consider velocity
consider clay pots breathing in a cave
unfurling billowing sail-skins of air
unfurling billowing sail-skins of sunshine
the Dead Sea Scrolls
rolled and telepathic
secretly rescued in the fire
she winks one eye
I snap my fingers
she said Im not saying anything
a voice calls her number
two snails conceptually move about in the sunshine
wrapped in honey-coloured sail-skins billowing
unfurling honey-coloured sail-skins often
I am healthy often
the people who start the fire sentence her to honey found secretly on cliff-sides
I walk in circles upon the rounded peak of a vertical mound
chosen because it has no shade trees
I am healthy often eating honey
the brilliant afternoon drenched in honey-coloured telepathic heat
swirling like butter from the ancient cows
a deer pushes his nose into the brilliant white pages
I read Ovid listening to a brilliant buzzing sound.
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