Pindar says the poet must guard the apples of the Muses
like a dragon, but I grew up among Christians,
I pierced my dragon side by scraping off the scales
the way I clean fish in the sink.
A barely saintly gesture, but surgical.
You need gloves, scissors,
and a lot of running water.
And listening to its splash I start to meditate.

Writing with swiftness concerning the movement of water,
of startled fishes, the lavender sea-fan, the lobster,
you have omitted the arch of sand and the rigmarole

The soldiers were in the habit of saying that a dying

soldier was “going west.” Are you going west on your

vacation? We turned west at Allentown and drove west-

Under the Mirabeau Bridge there flows the Seine                    Must I recall          Our loves recall how then After each sorrow joy came back again

Our story is noble and tragic
As the face of a tyrant not fun not for everyone
No drama or magic

The first time?
So long ago—that brown-eyed boy…
How can I say thi s, your Reverences,

As the black wings close in on you,
their circling shadows blighting the sand,
and your limp legs buckle, far

Instantaneously and repeatedly, Blank serves as a station for our senses, making possible an impression of continuance.

It’s not
because I am a land
lover

Many friends came with us
and whoever did not come was no longer a friend.