Pencil Outlines

They said it would be the real-est real reality could really be.
So I waited and waited and wrote a letter
That I left unfinished
Because the wait stripped me of commitment.

It was now, and now, and now
And just a little more.
It was ten minutes
And nearly there
And Shut Your Mouth.

Just when I was completely spent.
It happened then
Like a mistake, a fountain not a jet  
Between your legs
Like a folly, not a full sky,    
But some twilit bereavement
Like a skyscraper that has risen
In anticipation of its own incline
Like the metal scaffolding
That stood like a hanger against the skyline.

It wasn't enough.
Whatever the built it to, it wasn't enough.              
They painted Older like some classical shot at beautiful  
And when it came down to me,
I was given pencil outlines.