Matthew Nienow
Cocoon
After years of binge my hunger
was suddenly gone I became still
for three whole minutes during which
a curt north wind dusted my sills
with a memory of ice everything changed then
I put aside my sickle and walked from the field
though the day was young and found
a shade in which to begin I did not think
about the task beyond that it felt when noticed
like nothing more than breathing
I began with nothing to show
and soon a veil of fibers around my feet
and soon a quilt that felt like knowing
how to dance and dancing well
and so I spun for what else
was there to do I no longer went
out I didn’t know how to be
a friend or father I didn’t know
what a lover was I stopped
pretending the world was to blame
I was inside with no story
to save me from myself
