the word for your being
and the word for mine
separated by the sound we make
when we have something to prove

the small sentence
they all speak so lightly
overheard
undermined
and meaningless
most of the time

i missed it for a while
but lately i see it often
magnified with quantifiers
or the addition
of my name

it dives off the page
and into me

a settling of my panic
from across the pacific