Caught Between a Jerk and a Hard Place

"We're not puzzle pieces."

The thought sticks in a way that nothing has been lately
or that most things have been, it's hard to say,
by which I mean hard to tell the difference.
Maybe the thought is the only thing that hasn't stuck-
jarred itself between these rocks and an easy place

maybe the thought doesn't have a home

That's what the thought is about, really
the idea that nobody fits anywhere
even when forced together in the tiniest rooms and booths.
We can't cheat ourselves by sawing down corners or hollowing
out the flat parts to receive.
We can't force a connection.

We don't have a greater guide to follow, no matter how
we combine we won't form the picture intended

there is no intended picture, don't flip us over
we're not cardboard, god dammit we're not cardboard