I. Misreading

I. Misreading

Meaning can be made badly.

That is part of the gift.

A man waves from across the street.

You spend the afternoon certain

he was mocking you.

A friend grows quiet at dinner.

Immediately the mind begins construction:

distance, resentment,

some invisible fracture

already spreading through the walls.

Later you learn

he was only tired.

Most mistakes dissolve this way.

New information arrives.

The story loosens.

But sometimes

the structure holds.

A fear repeated often enough

hardens into atmosphere.

A suspicion gathers furniture,

hangs curtains,

moves permanently into the house.

Illusion does not feel unreal.

It feels organized.

That is why it survives.