JAKE BAUER

SIDE OF HOUSE, IVY

What I wanted was this:       to be higher than the ground,

higher than the earth (green &   filthy) I am
and I love, or   —abhor.

      Because what I love no longer
satisfies me, dissatisfied
    with myself.     Opulent,

spreading upward.       Recognizing it is

impossible to dissociate from the roots
      still cannot unknot
            the addiction
          of attempting to.

        To demand with my embarrassing tendrils
            her cherry-blossom aluminum
              siding, I know, was to thieve.

     Name a creature that can raise itself over its own head?

I will come down     when I want to.