Personal Space
We’ve learned
to use our elbows
to keep people away
to sit at an angle on the bench
with our legs up
and our luggage set at one side
like a cheval de frise
to lay claim to the land about us
it shouldn’t be necessary
I should not need to carve out
the coastlines of my space
to keep the distance about me
empty of onlookers
my attention is given
freely according to my will
you shall not seize it
or demand it as a possession
I will gaze into the emptiness of the abyss
and draw it up to me
I will freeze you out.
