Poem: Startled

Startle me.
Go on, just leap out from behind a wall
And startle me.

I know you can.
I know you’ve got it in you.

A kiss or a kick in the kidneys;
A sunrise.

The small bargains we make –
They’re not the small bargains of
Sisyphus?

You startle me.
You still startle me.

Maybe it’s just what I’m doing with being
Startled.

21 March 2007