Canadian
How I Joined Humanity at Last
When love
in the heart speaking to me
dies out, I walk
the street to be near
men and women who might recognize
the death in me.
Instead I see the death in them:
in that man's eyes a wound
glows through; this woman
loved a man
whose body turned away.
They could make no deal
to sidestep pain for the sake of
a good night's sleep, for
comfort and companionship
so regret
will not cut so deeply in years ahead
that it might kill.
I look for signs: a scrap of paper
on the street, the word
that will start me off again.
Instead I see
those I did not see before
who want from me
what none of us can give.
We turn away, and later
can only bear a very little violence
on TV, and later still,
awakened in our beds
with nothing but the clock to say
time has not yet passed,
our hearts turn
terrorist, aflame
in the two a.m. nightmare
with its need for vengeance
--and its sword of dismay.
Consider the Men
We lock ourselves into days
when nothing gets done but sweat
and not the good kind; but then
how extravagantly we dream, toss all
our saved holiday lives into the car
and roll away, our cigarette smoke
sailing out the window one last time.
Now we're going pure
for two weeks, find ourselves suddenly
up against the kids who seem
only to be talking to their mother
-and I'll admit I'm half
on the tasks left behind,
counting phone booths along the way.
And then returning to the office:
that's the glory-be, to have gone
and felt the summer unravel
out of my feet, to nap while the green
grows up through my chair, sip
the drinks that appear
near my still-white hand
the same one that grips again
my friend the desk, its broad fake top
waiting for arrangement, the in, the out,
the top drawer where the clips
are kept, the pens, the pills,
the comfort of the lists.
life is strange
challenging fr sure oftn sew full uv pain n oftn as
well filld with beautiful moments pleysyurs that
transform us 2 nu undrstandings n we can go 4 an
othr round get anothr kik at th can get our second
wind n sumthings cum up in th nu mist fog morning
is it us walking 2ward ourselvs dropping in saying
hello in th midst uv our sleep routeen howard was
wundring abt all ths dew we split from our bodee
selvs as in astral travl part uv us goez out 4 a whil
out uv erths lattitude evn n th othr part stays at
home minding th store ar we oftn diskonnekting
with ourselvs have sum adventurs whil th othr
parts ar growing dewing things lerning nu skills
cumming back 2 us ovr th hill horizon sew happee
2 b cumming home agen 2 th familyar
brian was musing on all thees apertures n storeez
approaches 2 th strangeness uv being whil he was
working at th galleree wher he did filing phoning
hanging selling n talking with evreewun who wud
cum in if they wer wanting 2 talk a gud day was
xcellent peopul n xcellent conversaysyuns leeding
sub textualee 2 a possibul sale that wud get referrd
2 that wud give hope or an xcellent n reel sale that
wud afford reel hope n part uv th maintanens sum
dayze it was difikult 2 conjure up all that othr dayze
it was fine latelee no sales no hints no jestyurs
