CLOCKWISE
I had my house cleaned
got my
clock cleaned
every follicle
of my body
washed and dried
dried and waahed
painstakingly
until it all paid off
and me
shining
like a new pin
all my brass
parts buffed
so
pleased with the service
what a big tip
I did give.
IN CONVERSATION
we had
the greatest conversation ever
wild
but we did
not bang our
heads together
or slurred speech slide
one senseless mass
down onto the
frontroom floor
our intellects
alcohol stimulated
but then obliterated
and all
that wisdom
left to escape
be spoken elsewhere
or perhaps
never again for
better or
for worse
or
utter calamity
of the human race
DID
cannot
undo
what
we did
apply
a stitch
in time
retro-
spectively
tried to unpick
those stitches
the blood
just gushed
around
the scar
a wound to carry
rest of my
life I guess
slowly everything sinking
to resr
STILL SPEAKS
dead inside
but a voice still speaks
leaks out stuff
dribbles
of delight
you might
laugh at, work with,
see
how hard it is
for things
to crystallize
one perfect line per
every
waste
basket life
FABULOUS
if you
are so fabulous
as wonderful
as you say
where
is the wonder?
where are
the fables?
where is the story
that is going to
change my landscape
shift my reality
grip me
grab me
for the rest
of my life?
I catch you sleeping
that very sight
transformative
beneath small, square-
shaped purple blanket
looking
Roman imperial, totally
submerged
and here I am outside
looking in
who knows what
impassable fence my
face pressed up against
who knows
what ultimate, legendary barrier
and on
that shrouded face
what dreams come
strong enough
to leave
some imprint, make
ground-breaking impression?
and so it is
between us
so much spoken
yet everything hidden
deep
beneath the choppy surface
of that text
true leviathans
denizens of the fabulous
most certain to appear
AND THE BASICS
and the basis
for my argument
why I am
taking pains
to argue thus
is the car
in my garage
the flowers
in my front garden
all the family
pictures that adorn my walls
the keys in my pocket
and everything
they open
beyond which
nothing really
of substance at all
HIGH JUMPER
Alan
D
never heard you debate
before
never heard you
live before (well
almost)
stuck in your
chair
but
can jump through
the air
plucking out
conclusion
after conclusion
you should have
become a jumper
could have
become a real athlete
an utter
track star
why limit yourself to the law
to the blase life
of a Harvard professor?
when see you debate
I imagine a whole different
destiny
one where you don”t look
anything so ridiculous,
that totally bad.
poems 2 die for