Reportedly

Beauty has been
described as a strict
adherence to every
rule except one.

The exception, in
this case, doesn't
so much prove
the rule as render

it indistinguishable
from truth in the
famous poem by
Keats.  This is

reportedly everything
we need to know on earth.

Some Cultures

Stopping to check
your watch is
believed in many
cultures to age

you beyond your
years.  Some of
those cultures
have passed laws

forbidding the
manufacture or
sale of watches.
Other cultures poke

holes in their boats
sinking them just in time.

This Thing

Listening with a
valve open, the
blabbermouth responds
with what it takes

to be taken for granted
by those who refuse
to give up.  Other
things are also

true, but not as
true as this thing
is.  This thing is
beautiful because

of its strict adherence
to every rule.

Rare

I work from home.
My job, to lose
gracefully, requires
a certain sense

of non-entitlement.
They say my talent
is rare and compensate
me accordingly.  I

have earned so much
money losing gracefully
that I have begun
to feel like a

winner who will
soon be fired.

Crevice

The time and blood
we have on our
hands is scrubbed
off each evening

by the orderlies.
Our hands are
then dried, using
white towels that

resemble chastity
and the cleanliness
wedged into the
crevice between

God and not
God.

Before And After

Many of the breasts
of the native African
women featured in the
National Geographic

were first-rate.  They
were, at any
rate, the only
ones we were

permitted to look
at with our eyes
open.  The was
before the days when

shooting small children at
school had become commonplace.

Wyoming

There is plenty of
parking in Wyoming,
more than enough
to satisfy the needs

of those who feel
inclined to park.  It
is possible (easy
even) to park

in the middle
of nowhere in
Wyoming, which
consists for the

most part of long
stretches of nowhere.