He told her

Through the dream

He was not, fully aware now, beyond criticism

And his problem was not that “you”

“She” held him under and to her deep criticism

Deep as she saw him, a depth she felt him worthy of

A depth of criticism worthy a match to his depth

He was deep in the way he judged every word of every person- spoken or not

Said with a face , or a context , assembled from the negative space around the unsaid -

The unmentioned

And after giving her words his depth — criticism of criticism

Really thought about it.

She just didn’t say what underlies her diatribe against her now cool lover

He’d say this to her — still in his way — throwing her a bone

Still in his way, making her crawl across the floor for it, to have her chin scratched.

It’s this, Alejandro, you need to learn the difference between virtuality and virtuosity

This, he believed is really what she meant when she said, “It wasn’t really anything”

But her reply would tell him everything he needed to know.

He’d say, I may know the difference between the virtual and the virtuous. But I’ve made my choice.

And that’s why my eyes are so dark, and why I blush and blink at the sexy void within.

Because the vitreous among us,

and this may be the difference between a man and a monster, believe their lies.

And, yes, God YES, this scares him to death!

But he just knows, that every human cruelty is born from the virtuous actions of men who believed their own lies.

So, Alejandro, is this cherub here with a message for you?

That it’s safe to transmogrify. From the virtual to the virtuous.

To be more human than you believe a human can ever be… without believing that they are real.

In simplest terms, an integrated whole, a dialectical: Do others not need to worry about it as much as you do?