And he was soft

his eyes went in curves
– over the back-wall
under the feet –
he never looked at the answers
curled up under lights
 
i kept him in a notebook
and in the bus ride from Ballybane
in steam of corridors
– he danced in
and couldn’t see me looking –
 
at braver times he cursed at the gods
as I went into little agonies
of touch-and-feel
– over the back-wall
over his knees –
 
the sea was different in Antiquity
– further away –
tides were lower
and men didn’t feather their ways
into notes and silent heresy