...I said it

first time, without a stutter
in the middle of the stage with white projectors
licking my ankles like a Labrador
my voice did not tremble
nor did my nostrils
arms hung on to the body
like two knights to their bow

and like thread through the needle I stretched my thinning neck forward
through the empty space opening around
then the chin, the nose, the eyes, one by one
pupil through pupil, iris through iris
until the tongue
crossed over with a thrust

the crowd grew, boomed, opened up like a lung rising out of the sea
and stood fast with their palms together
I wasn’t holding on to anything anymore,
I was smiling and picking up flowers

then silence
took my scull in its hands, tilted it backwards
and with its thumb
wiped slowly and hard the red off my lips