(to say it lightly

i had a long string with a star attached

and the ballerina on the moon

tiptoeing, yes,

with her elbows to her ears

the rhinebeck fair

and the goats’ laughter

plaid plastic tabletops

stuck to my wrists, then unstuck

new york’s kind of floor mattress

and our old barred windows on elizabeth st

brick—

and the things i’ve dropped

into the broken sidewalk)

i’ll come back to you when i’m finished

(let me continue sleeping with my hands above my head;

you are singing, and so i will rest

)