The Contract


The eyes of a flatterer
either sparkle and bob
dangerously sharp jewels in an open face,
or float still as fish
belly up in the sea.

You go around your life
like a tapedeck
overdubbing a thin veneer of prescience
over the veil of your presence.

So you've caught people in your layers of self
and they've sent themselves spinning around you
like ceramic balls in the palm of your abundance
eyes dancing and floating,
open faces and closed stone,
and I can only ask
is that all there is?
is that the way I want to be known?

Damon Wyle


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