Mark Cochrane’s “Dumbhead,” variation one

is there, essential; pegs, her elbows,
the vacuum of space

he compares the silence of women;
middle ear, soles & breathing, wait

he makes of each, a confined place
a newborn, bone

crunches, the upright throat

flushed emblem he can probe
forever; compulsion, she laughs,

later retreats,

no longer storytelling