How I List

This patchy connection we have
(at some moments electric and viable)
makes me keep hold when I should--
knowing, as I do, that you are given
to fits of caprice--
search for someone more steady;
but then I think
that flagpoles and accountants and refrigerators
seem steady
(and do I want this sort of love from a saint bernard?)
I would rather reach for cherries
from between slats of a jenga tower
and pull closer to some mercurial inamorata
from whose mouth come trinkets
and one specifically
the particular folly of whose hands I welcome.

Revenant

"I am not magic yet. But I am in bloom at the end of the world."

Revenant

She came back!
I don't know what changed, but
I was alone one minute
And the next, there she was!
She was not beautiful as I thought she might be
And she looked remarkably, well, unremarkable
Which, I have to tell you, did not disappoint me.
She said to me, "I am a journeyman."
I was glad for her company because
The road has not been so friendly,
Nor have I, on this road, been so friendly.
I spent a long time on the shoulder,
Entire years, really, envying the grass, the birds, the crickets.
But now, for some reason I cannot fathom,
She has come back from that place where I buried her
Under yards of jersey and stretch poplin
And under layers of sugar and white flour.
We walk together now, and if you see us from far away
You can't even tell who is who.

Things You Don't Want To Discover Too Late

On my stove sits a dysfunctional teapot.

It doesn't whistle.
But, then, neither do I.

Anyway, the teapot
Doesn't whistle
So I never know when the water is boiling.

It doesn't matter much
Because I can guess about the right time.
I usually end up with slightly-too-hot tea.

But it would be nice to have a warning,
A whistle to say, "Hey you!
You're overdoing it."

Not that I have a history of overdoing it.
Or denying that I overdo it.

Overdo what, anyway?
The point is, my teapot doesn't whistle,
So even though the water is boiling,
I hear perfectly clearly when

My brother in the next room
Is playing a game with his friends
And someone announces

"Things you don't want to discover too late:
That the parachute is actually a lunch box."