The Poetry Project

from I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SING

Alexis Almeida

I have never dreamed, I never dream. I can’t reach across
a lake. I can’t hide behind a flower. I have been followed,
cat-called, pushed. I have been mistaken for my friend,
and my mother when she was young. I have a strange
feeling, I wonder if you’re near. I don’t believe that if
something comes later, it must be better. I rarely
fantasize about warmer places. Numbers bring me
comfort. I am not an object, substance, idea, or thought.
Do people walk to escape walking. Does intimacy follow
the illusion of intimacy. I have grown more cautious. I am
not striving for subtlety. I don’t believe doors are objects.
I don’t rely on mirror images. I will never look past all
these fields in my mind.

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