Commerce

Sitting naked by the pool I can see 
many more trees than the two very tall 
ones visible from my kitchen window 
as shadows in the early morning. If 
someone comes, the only problem is being 
embarrassed that I’m not ashamed. 

                                                            A close 
friend moves to Australia. I cover my walls 
with paintings from China and their obscure 
secret codes. I remember one morning 
in London leaning back in the bath. 
The sunlight through the frosted glass and the 
frosted air was warm and direct. The steam 
brought to my nose the warm soapy smell 
of myself and I thought, I thought, well, 
I still thought a spread-out life was a rich one. 

Sitting naked by the pool what is there 
to put on. My life lies in fragments 
across the world in ways I can’t say 
are good, bad, or even indifferent. 
Letters come. I save the stamps for my 
brother. He has the change I brought home, 
except one Chinese copper coin. 

                                                            The parts 
of me I discovered out there, I bought them. 
I sold other parts and left them behind. 
Like the pool, I reflect only what’s before me now.