never to suckle the nipples that bind
or teach me to pray
and weep in the cold
never to gaze in a mirror while counting my pimples
nor to anticipate waiting arms
laugh in the rain
or run with the sun
never to sleep
or turn off the alarm
grow gray or bald or wrinkled
and anticipate G-d
never to snicker
or be snickered at
never to dream
and remember
him or her or them
unable to sweat
I await the whirlwind
the unheard roar
of the vacuum from
darkness to darkness
is SILENCE
