Soliloquy (after The Language of Trees)

an ensemble of distrust

grows from autistic tree shadows

limb arms, twig digits, trunk torsos, root feet

pruning that stimulates

masochistic sap tendencies

burls that yearn for the saw

imagining themselves as varnished wall clocks

 

leaf conversations stop when I walk into the forest

a signal apparent to the woodcutter

birds refrain from perching

bark beetles set clocks for siestas

gray-green lichens change color like

faded clothesline laundry

traffic lights

octopuses

 

I tacitly avoid bad luck associated

with slash pine shadows

step around or over

overlapped sawgrass fingers

and palmetto toes

[RK, 10/24/2020]

Control

a flock of fall plumage palm warblers

execute morning chores, confront

mockingbirds and titmice

glean moths from

Bermuda grass and sandspurs

call a meeting to order

which no one attends

[RK, 10/24/2020]

 

Easy (after A Small Diversion)

I fell in love with my digital alarm clock

nobody else is so consistent

or easily manipulated

[RK, 10/24/2020]

 

Vampire (after Kitchen Constellations)

how much loss of blood

is too much

 

at dusk you count neighborhood bats

stop counting at sixty-something

same number of cherished sunsets

you lean against granite countertops

peel potatoes, shred Parmigiano-Reggiano

jab a testing fork into a squash

you like the jabbing part

 

how much loss

is too much

[RK, 10/24/2020]

 

Pandemic Precautions

like me, you become more of what you are

that can be somewhat disgusting

these shattered preconceived social mores

these blasted inconvenient premonitions

these quarantine improbabilities

my embarrassing pontifical wordiness

 

Shakespeare was correct

the fault does lie in ourselves

his clever aphorisms entered the canon

there they are, superglued to our shared expectations

 

we need a cleansing relationship ritual

a penitential flame

deodorant crystals

weed killer

emetics

sage

anything, really

[RK, 10/24/2020]

 

This is Not a Chair (after Some Questions About the Empty Chair)

she just woke up, or

she took a cigarette break, or

she wants to wear the apron

clutch the palette, wield pencil swords

adjust the drapery, control the light

 

she remembers art classes

she rents a studio, buys a padlock

she tells friends wait and see

 

she wants

sable brushes, cadmium red

solvents, signatures

an all-purpose French bon mot

blurred comfort zone borders

knowledge, acknowledgement

[RK, 10/24/2020]

Oh Wait

intermittent dreams, memories, future plans

for fuck’s sake how to make it stop

how much tossing, turning, and tripping

before it all clicks into place

and the tumble of piled up tears

fears, years, peers, wear-

y same-old-same-old

makes sense

 

oh wait

clicking into place is just another

future plan

[RK, 10/24/2020]