Conditionals

All worlds begin with asking. Instinctively

the chlorophyll of the new and briefly

edenic asks, "Am I home? Can I stop

inventing these engines?" And end and begin

with asking, with a wild fecund of ambitions

on the lip, on the edge. Sometimes I can feel

my bones resting in the mass of me and sometimes

I can't. I ache to move, I think of moving.

"If-then," I say, "if-then."

Copyright © 2010 Ryan Flaherty All rights reserved
from Colorado Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission