That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumbered thus, or this head-shake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, As “Well, well, we know,” or “We could, and if would”, Or “If we list to speak”, or “There be, an if they might”, Or such ambiguous giving out, to note That you know aught of me –

erainbowd

Ambiguous giving out is the worst –
The opening of a door, meant to be closed but you stand at it, latched and opened a crack, space enough for a whisper
A letter, a gesture, a thought,
Space enough to just touch
Space enough to persuade
Space enough to break through a weak chain.
You can say, “I didn’t let them in. I didn’t invite them. I didn’t open the door,
no, no, I just cracked it
because I had to
because they would have banged on it all night if I hadn’t. “
But your face looking through was all the answer they needed.

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