!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Meeting by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Meeting/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Dogs take new friends abruptly and by smell,br /> Cats’ meetings are neat, tactual, caressive.br /> Monkeys exchange their fleas before they speak.br /> Snakes, no doubt, coil by coil reach mutual knowledge./p> p>We then, at first encounter, should be silent;br /> Not court the cortex but the epidermis;br /> Not work from inside out but outside in;br /> Discover each other’s flesh, its scent and texture;br /> Familiarize the sinews and the nerve-ends,br /> The hands, the hair; before the inept lips open./p> p>Instead of which we are resonant, explicit.br /> Our words like windows intercept our meaning.br /> Our four eyes fence and flinch and awkwardlybr /> Wince into shadow, slide oblique to ambush.br /> Hands stir, retract. The pulse is insulated.br /> Blood is turned inwards, lonely; skin unhappy …br /> While always under all, but interrupted,br /> Antennae stretch … waver … and almost … touch./p>/div> p>br /> br> /body> /html>
