you say you want
to get to
know me better

that you've never
loved anyone
quite the same

before you tell me
you want to
begin while I'm asleep

you call it finding
the unconditional self

so I sit on the staircase
the one by
the front door

waiting until my body
becomes atrophied
and my head

after leaning against
the white wall
becomes part white wall

and I can see and feel
the beginning of everything

how the door opens
to my helpless
body now staircase

how the door opens
to my head now
partially white wall
partially human being

and you
halved by sunlight
unconvinced as to whether

you will reside here
knowing that to get upstairs
to reach the unconditional self

you have to walk over me
passing my halved head torn

between feeling the fibers
of each log resist gravity
and seeing you

imitating the sun
like a torrent on a cliff