She is defined by absence,
emerging chiseled and ironic
from the confusion
of understanding. Enough,
they say, disregarding
her small pleas as she
deconstructs: I am not.
Lessened by lessons, she,
ghostly, wears her loss-
counting the penance.
Others edge closer,
drawn by potent charms
of the hollowed. But
this is not a simple equation:
1 + 1 does not lead to truth,
and the unknown x still
remains why.