When You Sit Quietly Next to Me

When You Sit Quietly Next to Me

Reading from Norton's that poem you've been
Saving for me with a yellow tab. 
It stews when the leaves are shut -- 
The energy mainlines through you until 
You ground it into me. 
The chattering verse slips to the right, 
Then up, 
Catty-corner to where we were before. 
Your eyes tick towards me to judge reaction --
But this song moves too rapidly for you 
And you become muddled like a pianist 
On new music. 
Some notes need to be replayed --
The rhythm reëstablished.