Degrees Of Sentimentality
The first French beret appears in Paris in 1828.
A sombrero or Mexican hat dance. A halo speaking
in tongues. Pain caused by a leg lost. The English
bowler Charlie Chaplin wore. One emblem. Two divers.
A body-builder flexing his muscle. "I suspect there
lies the culprit", she says, pointing at the zipper.
Choosing a subway seat at random. Tossed green salad.
Meanwhile, the kidnapper begins to grow careless...
a train conductor
a trash collector
A random note or prescription for pain relief.
Recalling the scenes from a home movie.
"Please take those antlers off in the house", she
repeats, this time in that high-pitched tone.
cracked cup
soiled apron
Then sometime later, the bomb stops at a bar
full of other known bombers.
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"Common Occurrences" Sonnet
-Crackers being chewed in a microphone.
-French horns in fetal positions.
-She as a ship or thunder the captain.
-Lighting reflected off white picked fences.
-A desire to be chamber music.
-Tickets to watch her twirl around a pole.
-Toothpicks that stab at indignation.
-A five-day weather forecast of loss.
-Ten men armed with lust.
-Or three women cold as a xylophones.
-The smell of piety in chapel drapes.
-The extraordinary power over yes.
-Until lips become razorblades.
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Evolution Of The Oar
In the new version, the house is perfectly
quiet & everyone is fast asleep. Miniature
rowboats line up like racehorses at a starting
gate along the marble mantelpiece. The glossy
brochure left on the sofa now praises the merits
of rhinos instead of zebras. The lonely housewife
who cleaned out the refrigerator that afternoon
is replaced by an alligator. The grand piano
turns into a bird cage or maybe a ship with
dull canvas sails. The gray carpet becomes the
gravel of an aquarium large enough to inspire
seafaring tales of pirates & buried treasure
still found on sandy beaches where vacationers
lie around on souvenir towels in rose-colored
glasses. All the animals there are recreated in
watercolors then hung out to dry. In both
versions, someone forgets to turn off the facet.
But in the new version the flood never begins.
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The Yawn, A Signal
The alternative story has subtitles but no
special effects. In this scene the costumes are
peekaboo. The dialog is doll's voices lying on a
bed. There are two dreams & they couldn't be any
more different. Dream #1 longs for spring & the
garden green that comes with it but in slow
motion. Its sole purpose is to create a system
of visions/hallucinations as widely accepted as
Japanese currency. This dream can speak five
different languages. It has a fetish for pillows.
On the other hand, little is known about Dream #2.
We do know it insist it was a primary color in
some previous life. It also carries an insomniacs
notebook still in the original cellophane wrapping.
The book marker is really a wallet-size calender.
The scene opens with both staring at a ringing
alarm clock. We have to figure out that neither
dream wants to reach over & push the snooze
button. That's the easy part. The hard part is
comprehending the significance of the mundane,
who appears with a serving cart then carelessly
rolls it into the nightstand, causing a thunderous
clang. I have several theories I can share later.
In any case, that's my favorite part!
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"Bird Insurance" Sonnet
Rows of TV screens all go blank
at once. Insulation for a bird cage.
Antennas that wave like lit candles.
A garden of prized peacocks. The
world from a hot balloon. Cereal box.
Grocery cart. The lines of a cracked
plate. A treeless tundra. Identical
birthmarks. We could pantomime ways
to get killed on a dark highway, she
says almost as a dare. Popcorn. Chili
peppers. Peppercorn. Fresh flowers on
a parade float. Too much confetti. The
smell of rot. A Russian romance novel.
Her exquisite slump in a chair. Poor
taste? A sailors' bed sheets. A bugle
blaring. Still as an opossum playing
dead. The art of being fowl. Greta's
chin. And if we'd been hit by a bus?
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