Making Do with Less

Whatever I take, I take too much or too little; I do 

not take the exact amount. The exact amount is no use 

to me. 

—Antonio Porchia, Voices 

Antonio, tell you what— 

Today I’m going 

To take more of what 

I didn’t take yesterday— 

The rest I’ll leave 

For tomorrow;

That should pretty well do it. 

Staking out the Usual Suspect

Stick to your MO, gumshoe— 

Stare out the window 

Long enough, no matter what 

The view, you’ll see 

The frame becomes you. 

Hung up on the Goddess

God, I’m a hopeless case— 

Where other mortals see 

Wave after wave of ripples 

Caressing the shore, 

In the foam of my mind I see her 

Multitudinous immortal nipples 

And still thirst for more. 

Calling Card

Where oh where are the cicadas? 

You can hear their quivering 

Insistence in the pines but never 

A sign of their presence in the air— 

Only their empty shells at the end 

Of summer remind you 

They too were there. 

Out to Lunch

And offline until Sunday while I escape to the shores of the Ionian in the company of George Seferis (actually his spirit as revealed through his books, but you knew that).

Coming Up In The World

Where once there was 

An outhouse 

With swatches of news 

Paper nailed to bare brick 

Wall next to a hole, 

Now indoors 

A fine vitreous fixture 

And a roll 

Of soft ass-wipe unwound, 

Touching cool 

Marble floor. 

Achieving Brilliance

Some have to work hard at it, 

Others hardly at all, so 

Before he steps back 

And takes one last hard look 

At what he’s left behind, 

This ragamuffin of a boot- 

Black buffing the shine of the gentleman 

Has to spit on his shoes and snap 

The rag like his life depends on it 

One more time.