is a plain extending as far as () can see
overpopulation
is a longing gaze aimed over your shoulder
is a form of oppression
practiced by fortune's draftees
is a long letter in the recycle bin
folded seven times
is a halftime score from 40 years past
a tumor dislodged from its host
how you learned to speak
is a closet of childhood swimming trophies
is the one purchased & later died in the suit
you had rejected as not your color
earlier drafts
An English umlaut
most rain forest creatures
the 10,000th arrival announcement
in the train station
an unmarked grave
an unnoticed failure
a step above anonymity
the place he floats into when
his reading to her puts her to sleep
is a old friend discovered in twilight
is an old friend who asks you
to join him under the cover of darkness
novice eyen before the expert copts them
the knot of pine in the floor beneath the pews
where parishioners fix their most devout stare
the pasture last seen by the cow
who became last night's sirloin
is forgotten achievement
bathed in the same shadows
as the unmoored & adrift
is the young & the very old
toiling voices at the extremes
theorem-proving
calligraphy of the blind
debate over which is the more gifted virtuouso
perfect for days your shirt is on backwards
where eggplant substitutes for tomatoes
the rack on which hangs coincident memory
fire alarm sounding at the moment
the attorney first honored the law of orgasm
place vast & oblivious enough
to whimper unheard beneath the wheel
& still to hold out hope
14 October 2011