Found Poem

infection or inflammation is considered
the most common cause of the condition
particularly in patients over forty years of age

often a self-limiting condition
it may cause considerable distress
particularly in patients over forty years of age

an isolated episode is usually considered benign
and not likely to be associated with malignancy 
particularly in patients over forty years of age

[RK, 7/5/21]


Chew

did the Neolithic man or woman
think about teeth, bones, skin, blood
the growth and decay of the body
the mystery of reproduction or death

did the hunter-gatherer, the earliest
agronomist, animal husbandry practitioner
consider the effects of viruses or bacteria
the mystery of gesture and eyes, words and ears

did the archetypal hero or heroine
really want to return to tell the tale
repeatedly, until it became chant or drone
the mystery of oral tradition and books

did the storyteller consider future audiences
how discovery and invention clash or combine
how even bad habits become ingrained
the mystery of chewing, just to chew

“The cultural tradition of chewing gum seems to have developed through a convergent evolution process, as traces of this habit have arisen separately in many of the early civilizations. Each of the early precursors to chewing gum were derived from natural growths local to the region and were chewed purely out of the instinctual desire to masticate.”—Wikipedia. 

[RK, 7/5/21]

OCD #1

fastidious, picky, and after a fashion, autistic
fatuous, fatal, the archetypal femme fatale
faun and centaur, the lascivious myths

functioning limited to lately minted postures
found in how-to- and anatomy textbooks
flatly denied by the instigator and recipient

first one yields to the fine points of sex
foundering, falsifying, possibly fake
flim-flam one can never be certain of

forces beyond one’s control shape the
fool and faint-hearted alike, and you
fail to remember who you think you are

[RK, 7/5/21]


OCD #2

yes Eve was embarrassed by the fig leaf, and
the wheel of fortune that turned against her
in the patriarchal and canonical remembering

I don’t blame her daughters for battling
omniscient storytellers who hourly make it up
continually adjusting for place and fashion

that image of an Edenic snake is wrong
it was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, wringing
truth from knowledge, until it was dry

[RK, 7/2/21]


OCD #3

how far back did you intend to go
that creation myth leaves out T. rex
and spontaneous blue-green algae

Darwin coughs politely in his grave
whenever you push the envelope
to the edge of each orgasm

what invigorates, what cause and effect
what sanctioned copyright, what loss
what you see in the cracks in the ceiling

[RK, 7/2/21]