we do not wear metal jackets
or leap from tunnels into light
in hopes of being buried in a heart

i watch how you believe
you are right – how bad
is very bad, and good
is only your good.

we do not wear metal jackets
or spiral through the spirit
into the fabric of the spirit

i watch how you believe
in heartbeats and long breaths
the miracle is not the choice
but the mechanism for it

we do not wear metal jackets
or crack like a whip
across the back of a wholly stranger

i watch how you believe
in the softness of sand
as it falls through your fingers
into the tide.