Mick Toma
Adaptation
There is courage
in adapting incorrectly (bones fuse with bold obedience to movement, not perfect form)
Not really virtue, like being blindfolded and handling
dark off sound,
moving toward panting, plunks, drips
because despite the horror
it is better to touch
I speak to you finally with saturation
instead of impressing you,
it scares you
I scare people instead
of loving them. I love you
in a scary way
I come to the wrong place. Everyone is disappointed
in my psychic journey
toward wrongness
There is courage
in adapting incorrectly (bones fuse with bold obedience to movement, not perfect form)
Not really virtue, like being blindfolded and handling
dark off sound,
moving toward panting, plunks, drips
because despite the horror
it is better to touch
I speak to you finally with saturation
instead of impressing you,
it scares you
I scare people instead
of loving them. I love you
in a scary way
I come to the wrong place. Everyone is disappointed
in my psychic journey
toward wrongness
Mick Toma is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Their poems have appeared in Hobart Journal, Academy of American Poets, and upcoming in Bennington Review. They are currently living and working in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on a Fulbright Research Award.