IMPASSE

IMPASSE

you glance
at my poem

my poem
looks back at you
into you

you glare
at my words,
suspicion impacted

wondering
what lies beneath, here
we hit an impasse

no way to
resolve this
applying the protocols,
rules, regulations
of current civilization

unless image
by image, symbol
by symbol,
together it is
we negotiate this page

trade, vent, share,
exchange

for the sake
of the poem

refract, reflect,
rescind, do what
we both do best,
perform
    a whole number
full-on optics and chemistry

without these
no hope for any preservation
of mere mortal remains