It Figures

So before you
Become just another

Statistic,

Carry your self over
To the next column

Waiting

To be tallied,
Mark off the cipher

No longer there.

Luck of the Draw, Boot Camp, Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, 1965

You never knew Jean Genet had a twin brother, did you? Well, here he is, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a genuine Madras shirt underneath a handmade Milk and Honey sweater knitted in 1964. I forget what brand of cigarettes he was smoking at that time (Luckies?) but I do remember reading somewhere in Genet's memoirs how cool his brother said his head felt. That was before Vietnam toasted a lot of his buddies, while he was lucky enough to sweat out most of his two-year hitch playing the role of Kool Kompany Klerk in Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Intricate Evasions of As

Momentarily, as

In the absence
Of something, say

It was just one

Of those things
That appeared simply

To fill the silence,
Then went on

Its way.

Time for Another Danse Russe?

Hey, whatchamacallit,
don't you see

it's about time

this thingamajig was
moving in on you better

watch out now watch it,
what you call it calls

the tune.

(A rewrite of a poem that first appeared in Sentences (1976) under the title "William Carlos Williams".)

Chasing the Elusive Muse

Before you promise

To keep your word
To catch her,

You have to let her go.