four lines

it seems so simple --
four vertical lines,
ascending, like
notes up a scale.

the first two, half
high, capped with dots;
then a pair of
full height bars.

maybe the simplest
name there is:
     jill

why does it conjure
such complex emotions?

what do you call her? you ask.

just jill. plain jill. how-did-i-get-so-lucky-to-know-jill jill.
     jill the little girl
     jill the anarchist
     jill the setter-of-rules
     jill the forgetter-of-rules
complex jill, simple jill
dreamer jill, dreamt of jill

jill of the alabaster bum:
smooth, white, soft, fragile, bruised.

green-eyed jill,
red-haired jill.

     ENOUGH!

none of these words add up
to jill, i can't fill enough
paper, spill enough ink, to
equal the truth in those four,
simple,
vertical
lines