Where were you when you learned that love held
Conditions? What was the moment when cause
And effect taught the lesson of merits that swelled
In your mind like a sprained joint? Learning the laws
Of deserved connection — that’s the tenuous path
You may not veer from if you are to maintain
Your safety sense in your ancient brain. Math
Of a higher order is required: you strain
To balance the equation and solve the variable
Weather conditions, but wind doesn’t blow where you bode,
And your stick house in the woods, durable
As you believed it was, wasn’t built to code.
Sitting on leaves, you feel the sting of rain.
Standing, you find that you can walk with pain.
