Understand that we will be working together / and this means / we do not have to like each other. / Understand that we have common goals / and aspirations, we have aspirations / most of all. / Understand, that in the end, / the unspoken is always spoken / and usually by someone not qualified to speak it. Understand, / the rhythm of this agreement is not always symmetric, / sometimes the drummer starts to lean / on one thigh, slowly sags to the side, / and as a result the song can sound like mud and honey. / Understand, that I love you. / Understand, that this doesn’t necessarily concern you. / Understand, that this is a bridging agreement, / just a placeholder / until the full programme of individual projects that need to occur to realise the full potential of the programme which addresses all the individual and specific concerns and develops a full and proper understanding of all the aforementioned concerns / is in place. Understand, / that there are no placeholders. Understand, / that between two placeholders is a river of uncertain places. / Understand, that the most interesting thing about the river / are the bridges that cross it. That bridges / always cross something. That bridges always burn. / That bridges can, and often are, / rebuilt. Understand, the gravity / of all this / and how I’m waving my arms about / to indicate the All of This. Understand, / the specific weight of at least / some of it. Understand, / the specific body is important. / Understand, that no one can really understand gravity, / it exists only on a piece of paper, / as in, like, an equation, / as in the things between the things / we can understand. Like a bridge. Or the complex science / that goes into a bridge. / Understand this. / This is a bridge, quite a long one. / Understand, that we should be wary of long bridges. / If we find ourselves seduced / by long bridges, we should strip off, / stand in front of the mirror, / squeeze all the wobbly bits. / I understand / that’s what you do when I’m not around. / From now on, let’s do that together, / let’s squeeze our secrets, / but only with one another. Let’s understand the wobbly bits and squeeze them. / Let’s be wobbly, let’s be squeezy. / Let’s remember what it felt like to be memorable. / Let’s stand under this understanding and marvel / at her structure, the curve of her thought-bearing hips / as she takes our concerns, / one by one, without complaint.