APOLOGY
I'm not dead yet.
I will be, of course,
someday (I might be
now, as you're reading
this--I don't know when
the "now" you're reading
it in is). If I'm
already dead as you're
reading this, I hope
you'll forgive me for
having lured you into
reading it under false
pretenses. I didn't mean
to. I didn't know I was dead.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
BEFORE
There's a lot to be thankful
for. We're not dead yet's
a good example (though
we will, of course, be
one day irrevocably).
I don't enjoy fishing
because I tend to see
things from the fish's
perspective. I always
think, "If I were a fish..."
Not being fish is
another thing we can
be thankful for, I guess,
though we, of course, are.
There's a lot to be thankful
for. We're not dead yet's
a good example (though
we will, of course, be
one day irrevocably).
I don't enjoy fishing
because I tend to see
things from the fish's
perspective. I always
think, "If I were a fish..."
Not being fish is
another thing we can
be thankful for, I guess,
though we, of course, are.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
THERE
An almost white, whispered
rumor of you is all
I had to go on. So
much for insufficient
beginnings. Word of you
had been heard escaping
through the usual cracks
in what we remember
of parting's sweet sorrow.
Under every surface
there is, of course,
a second surface we
can never quite get to.
I will look for you there.
An almost white, whispered
rumor of you is all
I had to go on. So
much for insufficient
beginnings. Word of you
had been heard escaping
through the usual cracks
in what we remember
of parting's sweet sorrow.
Under every surface
there is, of course,
a second surface we
can never quite get to.
I will look for you there.
Monday, July 26, 2010
HISTORY LESSONS
The Romans liked making
water go where they wanted
it to. The Greeks by this
time didn't give a damn.
Hitler held a halo
of burnt Jews above
his head and said,
"Love me for who I am."
Amazingly, some people did.
Napoleon had his head
up his ass when he thought
he could conquer Russia.
Not even the Russians have
been able to do that.
The Romans liked making
water go where they wanted
it to. The Greeks by this
time didn't give a damn.
Hitler held a halo
of burnt Jews above
his head and said,
"Love me for who I am."
Amazingly, some people did.
Napoleon had his head
up his ass when he thought
he could conquer Russia.
Not even the Russians have
been able to do that.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
GRATEFUL
I remember once wondering
whether eating a peach would
be okay under the circumstances
I happened to find myself in.
I don't really remember much
about the circumstances, but
I remember quite vividly
the peach itself and what
it tasted like when I finally
got up the courage to
eat it under whatever the
damned circumstances were.
It tasted like a peach, a fact
for which I will always be grateful.
I remember once wondering
whether eating a peach would
be okay under the circumstances
I happened to find myself in.
I don't really remember much
about the circumstances, but
I remember quite vividly
the peach itself and what
it tasted like when I finally
got up the courage to
eat it under whatever the
damned circumstances were.
It tasted like a peach, a fact
for which I will always be grateful.
ALWAYS
About a hundred yards
east of where eternity
fell into a rut yesterday
I found your damaged
angel. I picked it up,
of course, dusted it off
the way I normally do,
and brought it back to you.
We will, of course, start
over, the way we always do
in our two competing eternities.
If you get there first, of course,
I'll stop and wait for you
the way I almost used to.
About a hundred yards
east of where eternity
fell into a rut yesterday
I found your damaged
angel. I picked it up,
of course, dusted it off
the way I normally do,
and brought it back to you.
We will, of course, start
over, the way we always do
in our two competing eternities.
If you get there first, of course,
I'll stop and wait for you
the way I almost used to.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
REAL
On the day we all
agreed to agree that
diamonds and gold
have value, a tree
appeared on the horizon.
The next day the tree
was gone, a victim
of what makes us wonder.
I am telling you this
not because of anything
actual, but because of
certain irregularities that
have been uncovered in
the center of what makes us real.
On the day we all
agreed to agree that
diamonds and gold
have value, a tree
appeared on the horizon.
The next day the tree
was gone, a victim
of what makes us wonder.
I am telling you this
not because of anything
actual, but because of
certain irregularities that
have been uncovered in
the center of what makes us real.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
THE 'YOU' POEMS
People sometimes ask me who the "you" in my poems is. Except when the "you" is me, I don't think it's ever any one person, or even just one person necessarily. Sometimes it may be. I'm not exactly sure myself. It occurs to me that it might, in at least some cases, be what Martin Buber referred to as the "other".
Monday, July 12, 2010
CAUSE
I have often used
metaphor to relocate
from one useless state
of being to another, but,
to my credit, I have never
not enjoyed the illusion
such activity frolics in.
I have felt the soft
underbelly of the source
of everything not nailed down
and wondered where its
unexploded center was.
I have not yet had cause
to create myself out of nothing.
I have often used
metaphor to relocate
from one useless state
of being to another, but,
to my credit, I have never
not enjoyed the illusion
such activity frolics in.
I have felt the soft
underbelly of the source
of everything not nailed down
and wondered where its
unexploded center was.
I have not yet had cause
to create myself out of nothing.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
HEAVEN
(David Lynch)
In heaven everything
is fine. You can buy
lunch there for a dime.
Get to it by bus
if you have to, or
aeroplane. Be on time.
In heaven happiness
explodes like an old
apple in a movie
(the one with oozing
eyes that are ickier
than they are lovely).
In heaven everything
barks louder than it bites.
(David Lynch)
In heaven everything
is fine. You can buy
lunch there for a dime.
Get to it by bus
if you have to, or
aeroplane. Be on time.
In heaven happiness
explodes like an old
apple in a movie
(the one with oozing
eyes that are ickier
than they are lovely).
In heaven everything
barks louder than it bites.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
HORSES
What's this I hear
about you failing
again to get near
enough to the railing
to fall overboard and drown?
It's hard sometimes to own
one's own success,
much less
the success that somebody else's.
Trying to take the pulses
of people with hearts
that race puts, I feel, a number of carts
before an equal number of horses.
And then we die, of courses.
What's this I hear
about you failing
again to get near
enough to the railing
to fall overboard and drown?
It's hard sometimes to own
one's own success,
much less
the success that somebody else's.
Trying to take the pulses
of people with hearts
that race puts, I feel, a number of carts
before an equal number of horses.
And then we die, of courses.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
BIRTHDAY POEM FOR ASAD
Let this be the beginning
of something gaudy enough
to be greater, even, than God.
It is, after all, the birthday
of one who wasn't
here before his birthday.
(What cold days those
were, the ones you chose
not to be here on.)
How thankful we are
you decided to arrive.
It's not even close to when
it is when you're not here
being so absolutely only you.
Let this be the beginning
of something gaudy enough
to be greater, even, than God.
It is, after all, the birthday
of one who wasn't
here before his birthday.
(What cold days those
were, the ones you chose
not to be here on.)
How thankful we are
you decided to arrive.
It's not even close to when
it is when you're not here
being so absolutely only you.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
IMPRISONED
One of my better memories
is imprisoned in amber
like a semi-precious insect.
Do you remember me?
I was the one behind
the guy you insisted
on looking away from
at the dance. If,
by chance, our eyes
had met that night,
we might have met again
behind some billboard.
But you were looking elsewhere
at everything you saw there.
One of my better memories
is imprisoned in amber
like a semi-precious insect.
Do you remember me?
I was the one behind
the guy you insisted
on looking away from
at the dance. If,
by chance, our eyes
had met that night,
we might have met again
behind some billboard.
But you were looking elsewhere
at everything you saw there.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
WHEN
I love it when a thing
turns out to be not
worth doing, but only
when I haven't done it yet.
When I have done it
and it turns out to be
not worth doing, I
drop whatever I am
into the nearest bucket
and quickly wash myself.
Then I feel at least
a little wetter. This
seems to be happening every
other Tuesday at noon.
I love it when a thing
turns out to be not
worth doing, but only
when I haven't done it yet.
When I have done it
and it turns out to be
not worth doing, I
drop whatever I am
into the nearest bucket
and quickly wash myself.
Then I feel at least
a little wetter. This
seems to be happening every
other Tuesday at noon.
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