Line Unto Line

Come, said the line to the line
Let us travel together, and be parallel;
I will be true to you, and you will be true to me.

No, said the line to the other,
My way is not your way.
Even now we are diverging. Farewell!

But come, said the line to the line,
We can only be diverging after already intersected.
I would not cross you; let us run together.

No, said the line to the other,
Your reckoning misleads you.
Only in one plane will your simple rules be true.
I come from where you cannot fathom.
I go to where you cannot reach.

Peace, said the other to the line,
I will shift my plane. Let me translate my axis;
I will align to you, and you will be unmoved.

No, said the line to the scribble,
I am not a line that dwells in only two dimensions.
I am the line that keeps the cloud from being sky.
I am the line that holds the river back from the sea.
I am the line that guards too early from too late;
I am the line that watches where hope becomes regret.

12/31/21