I don’t want to be the performer,
I don’t really need the applause,
or what I really mean to be saying
is I don’t want the silence at all.
I could dance my way out of this
lyrical show, or make signs for
those who can’t hear the words.
I could paint the poem out instead,
or just write it out and lay it down,
as if it were a baby — and run off,
abandon this, and meet you later
and we’ll talk no more of performance
and poetry. We’ll just put one foot
in front of the other and not think
of how it all comes together as walking.