He placed the page in front of me.
'Read it" he said.
The sentences were in the form
of geometrical shapes.
I read up one side of the square
across the top, down the other side
across the bottom
up the triangle
down the triangle
around the circle
trying to piece the words together.
The sentences curled up the spirals
disappearing at the turns
to reappear with words missing.

I lifted the page. The words
slid down the paper to land in a heap
at the bottom.
I held the page out
giving it the forty-niner shake
trying to get the words back in place
no gold.

'Never mind', he said.
'You just don't get it."

I looked again.
The words had become worms
leaving slimy tracks
as they made their way
over the blank white surface

and I knew he was right.