Then there's the language of gesture.
This one is a persona piece from the point of view
of a young man trying to get the attention of a young woman,
and it takes place deep in Mexico.
It's called "Glyphs on a Limestone Stela."
"Jumping was forbidden, so I dove.
Fell, fell, half a lifetime.
Cliffside to cenote, full twist showing off my best sides.
Evelia's eyes cenote verde, her laugh a cascade--
clean and cool.
Third time for sure she was watching,
third time oiled and glinting, steel drum lucky, I lifted--
feet slipped earth and I flew over papaya, mango,
fruta de sueños.
My tongue yerba buena, buena suerte a new reed, moistened.
Canción.
Detour mid-air.
Gravity side swiped me.
Her tongue traced the crease of my eyelid, dreamy.
Small bones in a back.
Water I never broke."
That young man wrote an-- he was my student--
wrote an essay about the most terrifying moment of his life.
He said it wasn't waking up and realizing
that he was paralyzed, it was realizing that many people were
going to assume that he was mentally incapacitated,
just because his arms and legs didn't work.
Yeah.