Poised

Something that always
has to end like this
rimes with how
she pulls us back

into a silence
she wears at night.
We reinvent the
telephone to

reach her.  Death,
a dark vine at
the edge of the
porch, is poised

to come inside.  The
phone rings off the hook.

Sprung

Spring exists again
everywhere.  The
tulips crack open
and smile.  The

names for things
change like days
on a calendar.
The rose is as

sweet-smelling
as ever, even
without its name.
Forgotten things

trade places with
things remembered.

Manifesto

Problems have a
way of solving
themselves.  For
example, there

will be sufficient
fury one day to
precipitate action
against the utterly

shameless way
in which the
wealthy continue
enriching themselves

at the expense
of everyone else.

Two

In a long dream
in which money
is changing hands
and hands are

missing their fingers,
I enlist the aid of
the enemy of my
arch rival.  He

is promptly uprooted
by silence.  The two
kinds of people
there are in this

world trade places
for the second time.

Wise Cartographers

Wise cartographers wait
for the dust to settle
before touching
pen to paper.  Will

the earth continue
being round?  Or
will it flatten
out the way it

did centuries ago?
Wise cartographers
wait until every
question has been

answered before
filling in the blanks.

In Australia

In Australia clocks
move counter
clockwise, if
they move at all.

A left-handed pitcher
(called a "northpaw")
is given the ball
and asked to strike

out as few batters
as possible.  Auto
mobile races are run in
reverse, with the car

crossing the finish line
last declared the winner.

Undressed To Kill

An object invites
me to look inside
it, hoping to be
immortalized in my

memory of what
I see.  Life goes
on starting and
stopping.  I remember

the first dream
I met you in.  You
were sitting across
the room, nude,

pretending not
to look at me.