Palimpsest (after Trapeze)
1. What I Do
boxes labeled 1983, or tax returns, or can’t throw away
faded student watercolor sketchbooks
two-decade-old hard drive documents
business cards of people I will never call
address books with every address
crossed out
2. What I Want
#2 pencils, random pens, scratch paper
nuggets stitched into archaic scrolls
asemic notations treated with
pumice, bleach, eraser, opaque markers
a knock-off harlequin roll-top desk
with diamond-shaped pigeonholes
3. What I Am
inexorable bookworms and book scorpions
white ants, fungus, dander, dust
disappointment, sadness
lost pages
errata
[RK, 10/24/2020]
Hansel and Gretel (after The Witch in the Woods)
Pavlov bakes banana bread
from his grandmother’s recipe
he’s tethered to a stained
three by five note card
die Kinder aus der Nachbarschaft salivate
ring the doorbell and run away
first time it’s irritating
second time exasperating
third time the baking dish is oiled
fourth time the oven is preheated
the ringing stops
someone in this story fulfills a prediction
someone in this story fills a void
someone in this story finds happiness
[RK, 10/24/2020]
Prairie Dust Bowl (after Book of Days)
“for now we see through a glass darkly”
—1 Corinthians 13
loess layered over glacial deposits
layered over bedrock
plowed prairie grass fashioned into
origami cranes flying away
to the Great Lakes, Mississippi River
Gulf of Mexico, Mar de Cortés
this is exposure, lack of composure
overexposure in the darkroom
corn ethanol feeds hungry cars
slaughterhouse pigs and cows
feed hungry people watching
TV reality shows
original bison almost extinct
since the 19th century
forgotten vows almost extinct
since the 20th century cure-all ceremony
where “I do” and uncooked rice
were the currency of the day
[RK, 10/24/2020]
Traditional Wind-Up Alarm Clock (after Vaccination Blues)
that radium-dial little fucker
ticks like an analog time bomb
elegant, seductive, secretive
you search mattresses, pillowcases,
wardrobes, drawers, dreams
clutch the board game dice
you pocketed as a little girl
throw snake-eyes, boxcars
everything but lucky seven
[RK, 10/24/2020]
RSVP
(after Diagonal Line)
pre-Columbian petroglyphs follow
natural living rock contours
desert varnish idly chipped away
to reveal red stone and intentions
Kokopelli and Kokopelmimi
hold out pre-stamped invitations
if unable to attend you must still
répondez s’il vous plait
[RK, 10/24/2020]
Agony Auntie Offers Relationship Advice (after Test Results)
dear agony auntie
things have come to a pretty pass
hoping for something better
I’ve fallen into a morass
so I’m writing you this letter
capitulation entered my bloodstream
as it threatened to do
while I tried to live out my dream
with you-know-who
signed
oh negative
dear oh negative
be positive
[RK, 10/24/2020]
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