Cris de Borja

Words like these must be written in careful lines,
To keep the truth of my feeling ensnared,
Every letter caressed with slow and conscious care,
Every part behaved, contained, confined,
My meaning is bound in strokes of ink
Laid quietly across the smooth, calm page;
It’s caught in the folds of a paper cage,
Barred from release and held back from the brink.

2/16/2005