tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80155506046427981352024-03-13T05:03:18.096-05:00Infinite in Number, and All the Samechristinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-22394453966620052652014-07-13T00:51:00.002-05:002014-07-13T00:51:17.791-05:00THE FIRST (2007)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here is the second:</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we both step off airplanes in some place</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we may or may not </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">consider a home</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and when we see each other</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it isn’t across some great distance</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but i’m scanning the passing crowds</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when i feel you gentle tap on my shoulder.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the third, neither of us is</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">caught off guard because</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it happens out of planning and convenience.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we are both too aware of the approach</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for confusion or mistakes.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the fourth and fifth are something similar</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with the details modified </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(a momentary lack of recognition, delays</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and the expected complexities of reunions).</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but the first --</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here is the first:</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i am sitting alone</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in my one-person home</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">meditating on thoughts that will be read</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by no one</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but you.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a knock.</span><br />
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christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-27423525013723686312014-07-13T00:24:00.000-05:002014-07-13T00:50:15.863-05:00TO YOU. (2007)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When two pause on the edge of a vastness</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>one seeing water and one seeing glass</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who will step forward as the other falls </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>back into a past of certainty?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I reel in reverse and the resulting illusion</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is enough to lose this moment in</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>an instance of eternity.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A sort of virgin journey for a </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>weathered traveler of the land,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> tolerating </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a permanent adventure.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So who will understand the map and </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>border between our lives?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And who will admire your crossing the </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>divide to resume this uncertain pursuit?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When time does recoil to nine days a</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>week where we stood by Sebago</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and pondered our depths in the rain</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>did the water seem to soak up the drops?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or did they bounce off?</span>christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-82141804126870333182014-07-13T00:17:00.000-05:002014-07-13T20:48:10.487-05:00MEETING MORTALITY (2006)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strained cornerstone</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as I watch your frailty</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">surface from the side</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">first the left</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and retreat to the right.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten years ago you </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">taught me to be your caddy</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the heat of the plains</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the suffocating heat that</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">penetrated what once was a haven</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but today smelled of urine</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and you, my hero, lay</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in defeat</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sprawled on your side</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a still frame.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could’ve painted the pity</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on a canvas, sharp strokes, making mute</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">your still body and </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">her still face</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as if tragedy were an everyday </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">occurrence on South 17th.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few years ago</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you leaned your head back</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">into the kitchen basin</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and asked me to witness your vulnerability.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And for the ten minutes I</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">caressed your scalp—your</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thick and silvered hair—</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my hands aged a decade.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought I could release that memory</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">until today when nakedness</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">made me feel less alive</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and my hands, held under</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">your arms, had to bear</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a burden far too great</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for twenty-one years.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s why my script is</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">forty plus tonight</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When just yesterday you wouldn’t let your </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pride get the best of you.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead you gave it to me</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my cold doubt insulated</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a chill of impending—what?</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> —</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I pause for an answer</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">even though there is no ending</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that won’t include</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">saying farewell to love lost</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in you </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and you</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and love found in you.</span><br />
<br />christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-66951132152881296972014-07-13T00:14:00.002-05:002014-07-13T20:48:18.793-05:00UNTITLED (2006)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What makes us so proud</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that we might </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">end up face down </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on the</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">kitchen floor one day</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">while our grandchildren </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stand </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the doorway</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">facing the humanity of us,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who were once heroes, </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">clad </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a naval uniform</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or a fine satin dress?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now we resist until </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we can’t even </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">control o</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ur own mess, </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">overcome by our fate,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lying half naked,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">incapable of </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">comprehending </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a head held any other way.</span><br />
<br />christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-66522861580594892792014-07-13T00:12:00.002-05:002014-07-13T00:12:47.931-05:00RIP VANWINKLE, THE INTERPRETER<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shaving boredom</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">off the top</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the elite crust</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the zest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that opposes lust.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sheep, which maintain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a steady heartbeat,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">will put us to sleep</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and so we pull out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">their brains and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">implicate who</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we are with a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sterile probe or some</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">magnets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rushing to stand still.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rats scurrying in </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a thick dream of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">graphical revelations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel misplaced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And tired.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bullet to my head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is offensive</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and each person</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">uses his ammunition</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to communicate the</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">same solution</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in a different language.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hundreds of years</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from now I may</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">awake and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">finally be</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">brave enough</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to achieve</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a restful sleep.</span><br />
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christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-60588371235769714292014-07-13T00:07:00.001-05:002014-07-13T01:41:31.307-05:00AFTER THE MUSEUM (2005)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">23 million years ago</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the Miocene creatures were on the run</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from fanciful molds that we fit </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">them in now.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Supreme Court justices appeared </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from thin air</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BAM! from behind the scarlet curtain</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">drawn to the sides</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">drawing us to our feet.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sandra Day O’Connor might have</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">existed 23 million years past -- </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she, in her high backed chair</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dwarfed with her fellows into </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a comical scene of ancient boredom.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Oye, oye, oye! All rise for the </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">living fossils from the Oligocene”</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">progressing into deformed and</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">reconstructed rhinoceri.</span>christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-80290603907960473052014-07-13T00:05:00.001-05:002014-07-13T00:25:21.808-05:00THE WHITE HOUSE (2005)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the Southeast side, a mile high</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the news of another end</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chimes as a warning </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and I do not cry this time.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Across the Anacostia we are</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">black and white—divided even in the house on the hill</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can feel the world rupturing </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">into pieces.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are fault lines</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tearing through a billion lives</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or more,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">convincing us that boundaries</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">truly do exist.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But is it a matter of falling through the cracks?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m back on a park bench</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this time physics don’t make sense.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lack of familiarity doesn’t</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">prevent the pause, the breath, and </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the breaking point.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Death is dying all around me.</span>christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-24763781554703779632014-07-12T23:42:00.003-05:002014-07-13T00:25:15.474-05:00POTENTIAL ENERGY (2005)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us awake this summer morning</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to the reservation of dawn.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And before we are able to comprehend motion</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>or time, we’ll measure the distance and</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>space of a fallen dew drop,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hesitate before the sun exhales, and then</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>step into its crepuscular rays of direction</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(split the sky vertically;</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">split my progression laterally)</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trees are vying for that same radiance</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>of resting potential—even now we still fail to realize</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>that both motion and time are centripetal.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The exchange of our walking language is</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a sublimation of the truths we wade through</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>made into a fresh energy—defying gravity</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>amongst the clouds.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a park bench the physics return to me—</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a blue canopy made empty except</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>for the tanning interaction.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are my equal</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are my opposite.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One dandelion seed separates from its stem</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>and despite the hushed wind</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>it will not rest.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am the mass.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are the acceleration.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who is the outside force?</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-18920560298389458742014-07-12T23:39:00.001-05:002014-07-13T01:45:42.595-05:00SEVEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A MOOSE (2005)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a winding road divides the woods;</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the concrete river opens to a straightaway</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a moose saunters off the pavement,</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">disappearing into the thickets.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ii</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i woke up at dawn to see the mist pulling</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the sky into the pond</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">everything was still except for the shifting</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">gray spaces of haze</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and a ripple expanding near the far bank</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">iii</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i see the world through expectations and reflections</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in my dream i was startled by a moose</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and later realized it was (only) a deer</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">iv</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the soft illumination of departure</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">two with no certain destination</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one pushed toward a moose</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the other obstructed by it</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">v</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a bone still flecked with loose fragments of flesh</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">exists as an artifact of death</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and what we are supposed to find</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vi</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on top of a mountain a man sees only the path worn </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and the path waiting</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">not the peak itself</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">his saturated desire</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">finds the moose invisible</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">vii</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">first a statue settling into the blue cool</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then an antlered rock hidden in silence</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">now fluttering wings that listen and </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cling to the sliding surface of the water</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">now velvet brown emerging into light and air</span>christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-20325977195304381462014-07-12T23:35:00.000-05:002014-07-13T00:31:51.135-05:00I LOVE YOU (2005)<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Elaborate plans can’t be elaborately unfolded<br />spread out over wounds like a bandage<br />or left out to dry.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">When I saw the way we crumbled<br />and our fate was creased<br />from three heated words </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">I discovered that Plan B<br />doesn’t account for what is unseen.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Between "you" and "I" </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">there were more</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">than four letters </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">held tightly together</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">by the structure of fate.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">Why didn’t I wait to relay the next<br />step of action in our plan of attack;<br />a cold lack of willpower,<br />connecting time with loving me.</span>christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015550604642798135.post-8701507031303718322014-07-12T23:10:00.001-05:002014-07-13T00:06:02.216-05:00SIGHT (2005)<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the time of night when </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dusk begins to envelope the </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">earth</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">and light -- with the </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">landscape -- fades to grey. </span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seeing, </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">at this point, is </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">feeling a protrusion of rock </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">under my left foot, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">hearing a voice echo </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the dining hall above me, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">the inflection a </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">lolling melody of human interaction, or</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">discerning shades of difference between the </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">ash colored dirt, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">the silver trees, a dark </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; white-space: pre-wrap;">doorway, my pen and the page. </span></span></div>
christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07868481498505807825noreply@blogger.com0