1) Aimless and Adrift in the Leaky Lifeboat of Reason
Whether we want to
face the brutal truth or not,
our identities
have all been drawn from a hat
and our dates of birth
randomly assigned by the
stars, and we are all
just aimless and adrift in
the leaky lifeboat
of reason on the dark and
deceptively calm
surface of fathomless depths
of superstition,
(in which, it is said, the great
Leviathan of
all lies sleeps in the fecund
muck, dreaming his endless dreams).
2) My Generalized Other
I never knew what to call him, really,
never knew how to address him except maybe just
hey, man or uh, say, I was wondering…
Niether can I remember, exactly,
when he first arrived on the scene.
Much like our innate realization that, eventually,
we all die, that we don’t go on forever and ever,
one day, he was just there,
smiling his toothy, confident smile,
drinking my last beer, wearing my favorite shirt:
a mildly amusing houseguest that never left.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner,
brushing my teeth, drinking coffee, reading the paper,
for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, etc, etc;
there he was, neck and neck with me in life’s suicidal footrace,
maintaining his rightful claim on me, my time
and everything I owned, thought or said.
I was never shown any references or credentials,
but was evidently expected to accept, without question,
my role as dutiful subordinate.
And though I could never prove anything,
(never actually witnessed any outright acts of subterfuge,
sabotage or character assassination) I always suspected
he was having a better time than I was,
never once telling me where the parties were
or letting me know what was so
fucking funny.
3) The Ghosts of Old Memories
The wind is stained with
the scent of burning leaves and
the setting sun is
a pale orange rose,
and strange birds are chittering
in the darkening
woods as the cats come
out to test the first shadows
of evening. Mean-
while, the ghosts of old
memories are clamoring up
the steep cellar stairs
with whispered voices,
hollow and dry as the old
skulls of buffalos.
4) Palms, Bones and Innards
In the way that some
people can read fortunes from
consulting palms, bones,
and innards, even; are there
those who can read the patterns
of raindrops on a sidewalk?
5) World Premiere
Thunder out on the
horizon like a hundred-
car passenger train
full of sleeping travelers /
lightning like paparazzi
flash-blubs at a world premiere.
