for David Dunlap
The house must notch itself out
of the nothingness that contains it.
Each room must fashion itself out
of the furrow that contains each room.
Every wall must carve itself out
of the crease that contains it.
And all of the paint must pour itself out
of the pleat that contains the paint.
And the paint brush must grope itself
into the gathering that contains it.
And the can of paint must groom itself
into the groove that contains the can of paint.
And the roller must slurp itself out
of the larger slurp that contains it.
And the trim brush must get itself out
of the bankruptcy that contains the trim brush.
The beveled bristles must goose themselves out
of the gutter that contains them.
Breath, too, must run itself out
of the rut that contains breath.
But it must run back in.