TELEVISION FOR THE DEAF
I turn down the sound
to steal your voice on the bedroom
phone. It's easy to picture:
you lie
on the bed, laugh
bounce one foot -
Your hair runs happily across the pillow.
When you come out
you'll look much different. On the screen
Hoss passes Little Joe without a word.
THREE TILES
After I argued with my girlfriend
I walked to the library
there are three tiles on the floor in the entryway
three tiles that are loose
I always step on them all
clank at me as I step
I step on them every time.
FIXATIVE
It's morning
Trix rabbit turns through my bowl
You strike a pose
angular, military
mahogany of your breasts
curls inside your white bra
like secret machinery inside the Pentagon
the five sides of memory
lock your elbows into place
position your hips
unfold the dark helmet of your hair
pour the fluids
that give you milky, sweet definition
i don't think they're boring. Steve, these are very pleasant and disturbing. i applaud you for not changing them. i can see the girls in the first and last, and i can see you stepping on the tiles in the second. very nice, and i would like to read more from that era.
ReplyDeleteThanks Berta. A lot of the stuff I wrote then was more or less pastoral (or poor attempts at it). These are actually about the best ones I think. There is a bit of a dark side to each in terms of the elements of emotional friction depicted in the first two and a tone of alienation in the third. The first two were inspired by the same relationship. #3 is a different person. Hence I think the different tone. The thing that bugs me about #3, which is the one I like best here, is that the strongest line is probably "the five sides of memory" in conjunction with the Pentagon stuff, and then it is followed with just 4 examples to enhance the line (also the final line is weak, but whatever . . .). I can come up with a fifth one now no problem - obviously I had no clue what I was doing here.
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