Endtables
Something about this house
without any bustle, without any
light, without sounds. The silence so
loud, like a ghost yelling (Quiet!),
there’s a vacuum pulling on the
ears, pulling on the body entire
(Get out of this house. It’s empty
now. And you don’t belong here).
But I do belong here. And the house
is full. Chandelier, the dimmer switch
down. Stairs leading to the basement,
more floating up to the bedroom floor, or
quarters, as the ol’ fella used to call it from
his reclining chair. Endtables everywhere.
I never knew people with so many.
Ends don’t need tables and never did.
Under the yard, (Get out) there’s an
(of this house) oil tank – they still had
oil heating! And that tank (It’s empty
now) is mostly full, and surely leaking,
as old as it is, and will (And you don’t)
need dug up, if we’re to (belong here)
sell the place. Furniture, Salvation Army
pickup. Carpet cleaners. Get a kid
to mow the grass, (Quiet!) and put all
these noisy endtables out with the trash.
Something about this house
without any bustle, without any
light, without sounds. The silence so
loud, like a ghost yelling (Quiet!),
there’s a vacuum pulling on the
ears, pulling on the body entire
(Get out of this house. It’s empty
now. And you don’t belong here).
But I do belong here. And the house
is full. Chandelier, the dimmer switch
down. Stairs leading to the basement,
more floating up to the bedroom floor, or
quarters, as the ol’ fella used to call it from
his reclining chair. Endtables everywhere.
I never knew people with so many.
Ends don’t need tables and never did.
Under the yard, (Get out) there’s an
(of this house) oil tank – they still had
oil heating! And that tank (It’s empty
now) is mostly full, and surely leaking,
as old as it is, and will (And you don’t)
need dug up, if we’re to (belong here)
sell the place. Furniture, Salvation Army
pickup. Carpet cleaners. Get a kid
to mow the grass, (Quiet!) and put all
these noisy endtables out with the trash.
Pearldrop
S’pose
it’s funny
to’ve kep’ mine
all-of
eighty-nine
years, clean ’s
pearls, white ’s
Sund’y
d’vine.
T’ think
he loss’
all ’a
his ’n
hadda have ’em
dentures put in
’n ’en he ’s
alw’ys losin’ ’em
ag’n ’n ag’n
hall ’o ’em
years.
S’pose
it’s funny
to’ve kep’ mine
all-of
eighty-nine
years, ’n ’en
jussa few
days pass
soon ’s I lose
him, Ah’m
here w’this
tooth ’n
m’ hand
anna small
newblack
hole ’n
m’ ol’
head.
Spheres
When you are blind you can sense
fields of being, you can sense
spheres outside your own false sleep
Know when folks enter the bar
Intuit their proportions,
statures, fatness, desires
You can sense distance, because
you know where the air bends then
flees where folks occupy space
You can perceive their approach,
whiff their hygiene and gender,
mood, intent of your new peers
When you are blind you can hear
everything, everything, yes
you hear every goddam thing
You know where the mice are in
the walls and in the corner
breathing behind bookcases
You hear rapid heart lub-dubs,
glue traps baited breath waiting –
– You know the sound, the middle
finger is being raised, with
grimacing, and mocking shock
But mostly you know the sound
of strangers cringing, sorry,
how rude some people can be,
the sound of pity for you
when you’d prefer attraction
You can hear distance, because
you know where the sound waves bounce
off of people and things as
they recede, now bored, and so
therefore, you can hear distance
When you are blind you can sense
fields of being, you can sense
spheres outside your own false sleep
Know when folks enter the bar
Intuit their proportions,
statures, fatness, desires
You can sense distance, because
you know where the air bends then
flees where folks occupy space
You can perceive their approach,
whiff their hygiene and gender,
mood, intent of your new peers
When you are blind you can hear
everything, everything, yes
you hear every goddam thing
You know where the mice are in
the walls and in the corner
breathing behind bookcases
You hear rapid heart lub-dubs,
glue traps baited breath waiting –
– You know the sound, the middle
finger is being raised, with
grimacing, and mocking shock
But mostly you know the sound
of strangers cringing, sorry,
how rude some people can be,
the sound of pity for you
when you’d prefer attraction
You can hear distance, because
you know where the sound waves bounce
off of people and things as
they recede, now bored, and so
therefore, you can hear distance
