is there any truth
      to what they say?
about what
      that telepaths fall in love
   like breathing?
   easy, unthinking, and
   they only stop when they die?
I wouldn’t go that far
I mean, remember
what I said last time:
sharing your mind
with someone
is intense
and it can be thrilling
but we’ve
   shared thrilling
   and intense
   things
   before.
I don’t think we’re
in any danger of
      doing things we might
      regret?
   yeah.
      yeah, I am beginning to
      get used to the feeling
that’s good
there’s good work
for telepaths
if you just learn
to speak while linked
which takes some doing
don’t forget, you
   are a telepath now, too.
      oh? is it that simple?
the old diagnostic criteria are just
‘has demonstrated the capacity
for telepathic communication’
back when we thought it was
you know
   something you are
      rather than something you do?
I would say
in my experience
it’s something you
let yourself
become.

most people, when faced with
another person
imagine a hard line that
separates them from one another.
   but it’s not really there.
   it’s an excuse
I’m not sure that’s fair
to people. if you both act
as though it’s there
who’s to say it’s not?
      I mean, we—us—we both
      said that right?
      how can you disagree?
   the gestalt is
   not just the two of me—of us
   not that there are
   other people in here, but
   I am more than the sum of us
linking our phrenic fields
isn’t just a chat room
with no usernames.
it’s a radical shift in
how you see people
   you must be willing
   to stare down that barrier
   which no one has ever seen
   and run into it full force
      I feel like i am
      speaking and listening
      simultaneously
   without knowing how much of
   who you were will remain
that is a common
way of putting it.
let’s try to
hold ourselves in gestalt
as deep as possible
and just sit with it
for a while
      what about
no sparring today.
just getting
comfortable
with opening up
and quieting
your personal mind.

   why do we feel—
   ugh—why do I feel—
   why are the bodies
   pulled
   magnetically?
   when my mind is
   split
   between two bodies,
   my body is split
   into two pieces:
   there is an impulse to
   become whole—
   or closer to it—
   but—
   that’s not—
   that’s not today’s
   lesson—
   I will remain seated.
   I will
   both
   remain seated.

   I breathe:
   the bodies
   breathe
   together.

that’s good for now
      I was just getting the hang of it
don’t want to do
too much
all at once,
as a novice.
wouldn’t want you to
   fall in love with me,
   or anything.
oh, hush.
      I understand
   it’s too easy to feel
   mutually submerged.