what is soft
in these tendons

& bone scaffold

tightly set hinges

at the jaw, in
finger joints

(the instruction
is, continually,
get soft, soft)

but something
springs up; this
is not fem, is it?

or is

it? we like to play
it tight, hard,

“we like to do it
rough,” she sang

rolling it around

and around

i’m looking
in the mirror.

“you’re like a geisha”
she said, “don’t take
this the wrong way”

what way is
that? thinking

how soft movements
can kill…