Another poem by Ruben van Gogh

 

CLOSE READING

Careful, do be careful

with those subtly rendered words.

They’re for feather-light

dallying, more so

than those purposeful sentences

are; they’re rather for heavy

shagging in out-of-the-way alleys, where

shade invariably recalls

unsightly spirits, and keen

thoughts lurk concealed

like ragged typefaces, yearning

for life that’s never been read.