2001...

and the California coastline
is still
here

as always there are the
eternal rumors of
war &
     peace

the homeless still
struggle against
the elements of
progress

ideas eviscerate the soul with promise

spirit orbits knowledge
like the first monkey looking for a
drop

cities rise and countries fall along with
the centuries & millennia
as the new lords of information
pave the outer reaches with
speculation

taking up fresh arms of have to carry the
apocalypse of
change

memory divines time
somewhere like Alaska there are
new prints in the virgin snow
safe in the mouth of a thousand years

here in Los Angeles on the 101 South
hubcap has been liberated
lurching forward on the freeway
like a kamikaze coyote
piloting towards a
final rest

the perfect chaos of
something wild
forgotten before the
fall

the technology of
surprise

a teardrop like a waterfall

to remind us that we are
human
after
all

          oh
          beautiful
          nowhere

welcome

          let’s dance

---

I Have No Poem For You Today

only my arms and
hands
that hold and shape this
empty
longing

so
take the
music
from my throat

and sing

use my legs
to
out run
your seemingly unconquerable
fear

and when the
race is run and the
song sung

I will wash your
tired body with my
tongue
while you
rest
and
heal
inside my
hunger

---

Suddenly Down

I say hi
to this gal I know

I ask how she is
doing
she says,
“Fat, but happy. I’ve been on
Prozac for two years.”

I say,
“Oh really? They’ve been
trying to get me on that shit for
a while now but I won’t
do it. So,
what’s it
like?”

she says
that she
has no sex drive
and I say
oh that’s too bad and she says
no
that’s
great
because
guys
can’t fuck her over
anymore

“That’s cool.” I say

she
smiles
and
walks
away

from my book:
  unborn again


book review with michael baskinski