I TURN I ALWAYS TURN

inwardly I find I'm in conversation with another ... persistently patient he never interrupts but gives no answers either ... so I speak for him ... put into his mouth the words I want to hear ... but lately he's been saying things I have not expected ... and now too for the first time I sense a different presence in the room ... one as quiet and watchful as my old friend used to be ... friend I say though I sense he may no longer be that either ... what was he from the beginning perhaps but my antagonist ... wasn't I his mentor his master ... listen to him speaking now ... well at least as in the old greek plays I remain the protagonist ... I was here first ... but it worries me nonetheless ... who is this third person ... what should I make of him ... is he the chorus or the god in the machine ... how much of my attention should I give him can I afford to give him ... my antagonist is saying all kinds of disagreeable things ... to him I must attend ... but this third one this surd one I expect he may like the other break out into open thought ... I cannot hear the other one ... his voice breaks open in the wind ... is it he still this crowd of other voices ... why do I turn to the third for an answer