Dynamo [2000]

just as in the heart of a machine
where the stark contrast of opposite poles
electrons' reversed movement
drives the dynamo
that makes it move
on my hand, a dark stain spreads
where the ebony travels
down corridors in my palm
hallways so narrow that, from this height,
blend to a grey haze
i am crosshatched
and the chasm between
that which is me and not me
defines the border
along which this brush travels
it is said that the human eye
focuses on the difference
where something changes to nothing
high plunges to low
white pierced by black
just as in the silence of absence
where the dead atmosphere is rent
by your voice's inflection
drives the dynamo
that makes it move