We must all open ourselves to the influence of Love.
We must all let its fleshless fingers caress our skin.

At first she is only mildly annoyed: the car
won't start, it's happened before. She'll phone
her husband—what is his name?—at his office,

Windows un-Windexed
Sheets not laundered, itchy crotch
I’ve myself to blame

The       Joyful Feelings       met you as
Yesterday emerged from        the tiny windows
outside Tiffany’s        My rough

Something terrible has happened
but I don’t know what. The letter
that arrived this morning will say no more

Two sharp eminences with a valley between
Through which the erratic witness of a loosened tongue
Flows to the sea: Mount M__________. Mark it well.

I envy them and cannot find
Any comfort in my own uncertainty.

This will be your office, Mr. Blank,
While you remain attached to the Poetry .
Division of the Department of Mediocrity.

Like antelope bounding across
the wide lawns of Africa
are these flames that leap

All summer long
while other trees
reached for more