Number me

 

Number me for the sake of order

And so that my name is not an impediment

To the even enforcement of policy.

 

Number me among the breathing

And among those who, by virtue of number,

Receive deep discounts at the pharmacy.

 

Number me among those who know whether

Attendance of preschool dance recitals

Is an aspect of Heaven or of Hell.

 

Number me among those at the emergency room,

By crisis of head or of bowel or of heart,

So that my I may describe the nature of my emergency.

 

Number me among those who wait in digital queue,

For the agents of customer support,

Because my call is very important to them.

 

Number me for the purpose of Social Security,

Let that number be three digits and two and four

So I approach death both secure and social.

 

Number me among the grateful and the ungrateful,

The rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick,

The forgiven and the unforgiven.

Ionic Breeze

Near the west window it stands.

Tower of electronic silence.

Its shadow falls slant 

across the sleeping cat.

It cleans the air.

Gone the allergens:

The dander of my familiar,

The haze from Lucky Strikes...

Giving me a sharper image

of the objects in my room.

It bathes my face in ions.

Dale Wisely

Dale Wisely founded and, with F. John Sharp, edits Right Hand Pointing.  He co-edits, with Howie Good and F. John Sharp, an online journal of first-person true stories, Left Hand Waving.  And, with Howie Good, he co-edits digital chapbooks of prose poems at the new website, White Knuckle Press.