Dame Agnes

Dame Agnes went ‘round

with her cat in her hat.

The cat quite enjoyed

where he sat.

That's all we've got
about that.

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Seems To Be A Law

Everything is an incursion –

every outside presence is the mother

of the idea of the Other: an occasion

for enlightenment, anxiety and awe.

That seems to be a law.









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Eye to Eye

Let's see to eye.

Then when we can't

stand it anymore,

we'll say goodbye.

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Existential Spittle

Squiggling in your laundry pile!

Existential spittle!

Oh well, let it stay a while.
You only mind a little.

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What Floats the Boat

Today I saw the reason

in the heart of everything.

The lying down and getting up,

the dying and awakening,

the on and off, all glimmering

like fireflies, despondency

at dawn. I heard God cough

and clear his throat. And there

was what the secret was:

what floats the boat.

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Shadow – Upper Right

Of the shadow – upper right –

they’re bluntly unaware.

They think they’re in a place-less white:

sweet nowhere of blank air.

Nothing in their random flight

invites me to go there.

Such endless deeply inward sight
would fill me with despair.

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The Best Precautionary Measure

The Best Precautionary Measure

What’s the best precautionary

measure she could think of?

She closed her eyes and sighed;

when they opened they were wide –

as if they’d seen a treat.

She’d barely missed a beat.

“The best precautionary measure,”

she replied, “is surely pleasure.

Pleasure is the treasure.”

From what she’d carried in that day,

her fruit de printemps roast poulet,

tout fraiche! (her word, as ‘twere,

made flesh) – not only had she had

her say: she’d cooked it.

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