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.
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.
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".)
Before you promise
To keep your word
To catch her,
You have to let her go.
See?
He's got wife with can
Of sardines up un-
Canny ass,
Eats her whole
Before you can
Say Jack,
Where'd she go?
wind-buffeted
solitary white
chapel's calling
seas bluff.
whatever it was
he was dreaming
it was not
what it was
meant to be.
