Studies in Gray for the Winter Solstice, 2020
 
A Dull Story
 
Delphi exists at my pencil’s point
two years ago the graphite washed away
 
“Some oracle must rectify our knowledge.”
The Tempest

[RK, 12/20/2020]

 
Blatant Disregard
 
I was young two years ago
“?”
I was yearning
“?”
I left myself behind
 
“Even so it was with me when I was young.”
All’s Well That Ends Well

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
Conundrum
 
a story repeated so many times I
no longer know what was real and
what I subsequently embellished
 
“And those things do best please me that befall prepost’rously.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
Q.E.D.
 
admired or reviled, it’s all the same
my theorizing and pontificating
allows you to dissemble
 
“Celerity is never more admired than by the negligent.”
Antony and Cleopatra

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
A Thin Line Between Tease and Please
 
²tease n 1 : the act of teasing : the state of being teased 2 : one that teases
 
“I love to cope him in these sullen fits, for then he’s full of matter.”
As You Like It

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
Incantations

my semi-ritualized incantations, a priori
“setting the stage” when
fair summer mornings offered
hope, and you
scrawled entanglements across a windshield
and the road became a frightening blur

 
“These promises are fair, the parties sure, and our induction full of prosperous hope.”
1 Henry IV

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
Sundial
 
I’ve seen clocks run backwards in movies
TV shows, witnessed this science fiction
paradox
the visuals almost had me convinced

now I hope I know better

 
“My vows are equal partners with thy vows.”
1 Henry VI

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
In The Hall of The Mountain King
 
you say yield to small satisfactions
you say quit carping and caviling
you say don’t count your eggs
you say it is late in the day
you defend the indefensible
you forget to listen

 
“Here on this molehill I will sit me down.”
3 Henry VI

[RK, 12/20/2020]
 
A Difficult Balance
 
I can understand some confusion
but I’m tired of standing on my toes

 
“All is uneven, and everything is left at six and seven.”
—Richard II

[RK, 12/20/2020]