Two Notes to the Great Beyond

1

Forgive me Father
for I have binged
on your recuperative
ministrations.
Forgive me Mother
for I must peel
off every swaddling
cloth with which
you sought to heal me.

Forgive me, sweet
Infinity, for I have
gorged on every
root and route
I find that you
have forged. Forgive
my spiny wonder,
shiny fun from this,
your tiny son.


2

So a man walks up to a stranger
on West 72nd Street and asks him:
“Have you ever been to California?”
“No,” the stranger says.

“Well,” the man continues,
“from what you’ve heard of it,
you think I should go?”

“Sure,” the stranger says.

So the man buys a plane ticket
and leaves that very day.

And everything turns out
the way it would have anyway.

.