Instructions

Stand close enough
that the body
knows
you have not left.

Stand far enough
that the body
does not have
to perform.

Do not say
I understand.

You do not.

Do not say
I would have,

you would not.
You were spared
the rehearsal.

Say instead
the small things
hands can say
without explaining.

Pour the water.
Open the curtain
only as much
as she wants.

When she sleeps,
do not interpret
her sleeping.

When she wakes,
do not ask her
to speak
for the room.

What you owe her
is not language.

It is the patience
of being there
without
trying to be
the lesson.

Stand close.

Stand quiet.

Let the body
in its own time
decide
what to name you.