by Angel Liu

Created on: June 04, 2008

The Closed Man

The Closed Man
never opens like a fan
He sleeps next to me
shrugged in, hugged in
to himself and not to I.
I who pray in the dark,
I whose waiting has
become art.

I try
to wrap my arms
and head around him,
can't - he's too fenced in.
I have traveled
everywhere but
never fully there.

He says
no one's been closer
than you. My darling
puzzle with the big
pieces missing, do you
mean to flatter me?

My passport
does not work on your
borders so I find I loiter,
shadowing your steps,
though far. I echo you
by song and star,
I have wept for peace
in your forsaken war.

I think
the most you fear
is that I may find
that really there is
no mystery to mine.
Just a man,
closed as a can
My beloved closed man.

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