17 August 2013

Everyone Knows You're Going to Live

{So you might as well start trying.}

















You can choose your own adventure.



Life is difficult.


































Happy families are all alike, Ishmael.













































I sing the song of myself, why
Is the measure of love loss?













































Flip it. There are a thousand turns.
More. Take a self-help book off
The shelf. Or read the one by
Lorrie Moore. Moore's is better
Than all of them.






















Don't be a writer, she says. If you can
Be anything else, anything else at all,
Just do it. You won't regret it.
























Some of us are not so lucky. That's
Where things get tricky, and the brain
Gets in and oh, she likes to talk a lot.


















Ask her the time; she'll tell you
How to make a watch.
Mention the present weather; she'll
Give you a brief history of the universe.
Offer a tiny fact--your favorite color,
For instance; and you're already having
Your first nervous breakdown.























The year is 1967.
You have 18 more to go before
The book ends. (She likes to metronome
The spine of the story to a song significant
To the novel's era. See, she always has
A beat going in her head but none as fast
















None as fast as the one that's her heart.)

"Things can't go on like this," begins
The first sentence of her new book.
























"No, dear reader, they can't," she answers back.

1 comment:

Chris Bodor said...

Can you send me a version of your poem "The Silver Sands of St. Augustine to consider for my book project "Florida Speaks". Here is some more info. Thanks, Chris Bodor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CALL FOR WORK - FLORIDA SPEAKS
Chris Bodor is currently accepting poetry and essay submissions from writers on the subject of Florida for a 2014 release. Although all are welcome to submit, the primary aim of the print book project is to highlight poets who have participated in the Heart Pour Spoken Word Series that has gathered monthly in St. Augustine, Florida for the last four years. The series host, Chris Bodor, will serve as the editor for this labor of love anthology featuring approximately two dozen local, national, and international writers. Contributors will receive a copy of the publication, if grant funding is secured. If the project does not receive funding then copies will be made available to contributors at cost. Please send your work in the body of an email to poetplantpress at yahoo dot com Deadline: September 01, 2013. For more info: www.bodor.org