Flatland, or, How Can I Put My Arms Around You (With No Around To Put My Arms?)

Nothing in this world’s changed since
The dusk of gods, the dawn of men
Drift of water, ways of love
But I still find ways to see you new, now & then
A finer angle, a purer shading, a darker pen

But mine becomes a barren world
All its features gone
How can I put my arms around you
With no around to put my arms?

“Be patient,” you said to me, “for the world is broad and wide.”
It’s like you’re chasing pendulums as they swing from side to side
You delineate your borders, you circumscribe the plains
As if everything that’s measured, you contain

The world becomes a barren plain
With all dimension gone
How can i put my arms around you
With no around to put my arms?
How can i leave behind your angular and gentle beauty
When there’s no behind to leave your charms?

Look out!
I can stay beside you
Get out!
And feel that you’re still near
Watch out!
I can call out and you’ll hear
Running circles among circles
Parsing angles, spinning gears

Mine becomes a barren world
All its features gone
How can I put my arms around you
With no around to put my arms?
The world becomes a barren plain
With all dimension gone
How can i put my arms around you
With no around to put my arms?