Linking Poem by Jenny Kalahar

I see us
but can't count our number anymore.
Two, three, four?
Rings within circles
some gold
some celestial
some invisible like that punch to the gut
I feel when I look away from us
and some rings make chains
and some are like stage magicians'
clinking, then the links slip apart

I'm inside our strange circle
mostly welcome
sometimes screamed at
with golden words that draw the cold from me
or slip together
chaining me again