J.J. Steinfeld – Ⅱ

Equidistant 

 

 

fleeing from the centre of confusion

a place as central as the soul or language

you attempt to count your footsteps

their sound different this time

as though pain or injury

have altered sound and definition

 

then in your mind’s eye

you open a textbook full of instructive distances

and how to arrive at their calculation

with precision and belief:

equidistant between solitude

and the cacophony of a vociferous mob

is an achievable madness

the trick is in the measurement

in the pacing off between the two compass points

 

equidistant between deepest sleep

and most alert consciousness

is a slightly imperfect madness

once again, the measurement is the task

in finding the desired location

 

equidistant between captivity

and an idealized picture of freedom

is a raggedly imperfect madness

no need to measure these

for both can become what you fear

 

equidistant between lucidity

and darkness born from pain

equidistant between sense embracing myth

and the unforgiving reality of randomness

 

equidistant between achievable madness

and imperfect madness

are all the words you have ever heard

and cannot arrange into sense

as you flee