as god is my witness i am invisible

[Alan Sondheim]

as god is my witness i am invisible

vanquished every second from the presence of sight
evanescent site and languorous possession
god is my witness and god will lean back
god's breath is visible through eyes shut tight
at the center of every lotus my empty hands
my bony hands my hands of many bones

my hands are insatiable my hands drink the sound of the world
they strangle young peddlers and seize their bread and water
these words write themselves in the sound of an unknown language
the steep road passes through jungles of iridescent flowers
my palms press my eyes my eyes press my palms
unseeing unlooking unsounding the presence of hearing
the presence in the sight of god of an always dying man