[James Brancheau]

Revision

Resonance

I walk back to you on fingertips, carefully
turning each grainy page, peeling them from

each other, from their folded selves in dust
that unsettles quickly from my deep closet

shelves—that rush up to light like all of a sudden
doubt, or an old song in the mind that silence

brings out. In the must that will gather where
time stands still, I found them bound by a hair-

band, notes and letters beneath frills. I look
hard, but can’t understand the grandness

of my flourish, the tapering landscapes of hills,
my own hand. One by one I pull them apart,

squint to hear the lyrics of the younger heart—
maybe the spacious acoustics of forever

and ever, of brighter rooms. I pluck at the
corners, try to grip what I meant, to find

a clear note, what string’s out of tune.




*Notes:

yellowed letters --> notes and letters



Resonance

I walk back to you
on fingertips, carefully

turning each grainy
page, peeling them from

each other, from their
folded selves in dust

that unsettles quickly
from my deep closet

shelves—that rush up to
light like all of a sudden

doubt, or an old song
in the mind that silence

brings out. In the must
that will gather where

time stands still, I found
them bound by a hair-

band, yellowed letters
beneath frills. I try,

but can’t understand
the grandness of my

flourish, the tapering
landscapes of hills,

my own hand. One by
one I pull them apart,

squint to hear the lyrics
of the younger heart—

maybe the spacious
acoustics of forever

and ever, of brighter
rooms. I pluck at the

corners, try to grip
what I meant, to find

a clear note, what
string’s out of tune.




*Notes:

Changed the close from:

........I pluck at the

corners, try to grip
what I meant—as if

I’ll find a clear note,
the string out of tune.