Who sequesters
negatively charged
ions
and waits.
–
Milton’s devils
make me sad—
the way
Satan must cross
chaos and dark night
hour by hour
to reach us,
actually flying
as if space were real,
the way he stops
and asks directions
–
Who runs
along the tops
of trains, leaping
from car to car,
ratcheted
into the present
in his topcoat
if there is no
Torn
1
If the whole ragged
current
were a creature,
we could expect it
to both anticipate
and remember
the splash it makes
here
on this rock,
its acrobatic performance
of momentum
run through
to the point of
distraction.
2
In this series,
sleeper agents
live our lives—
some version of our lives—
with (what might be)
this difference:
most of what they do
is feigned,
but not all.
That’s what keeps us
riveted.
Divisor
1
How pairs
of power lines
hold gray
interstates
between them
2
List of ways
the body
befriends the body:
strumming
the left toes
over the right
as if;
causing each finger
to touch its mate
and press.
It’s a good thing
the body’s
split.
The two sides
can make up
while the head
goes on
saying what it’s like
Life’s Work
1
Did I say I was a creature
of habit?
I meant the opposite.
I meant behavior
is a pile of clothes
I might or might not wear.
Before all the sowing and reaping
could go on for centuries,
before the calendar,
I must have been convinced
that my movements
were both mandated
and blessed.
2
I’ve never been an old woman
knitting by a fire,
but I’ve played one
in images
where it meant being foolish
or wise, a mistress
of distraction’s
indirection.
To rock while entwining
is life’s work,
but I am reckless,
restless
The Difficulty
This film, like many others,
claims we’ll enjoy life
now that we’ve come through
difficulties, dangers
so incredibly condensed
that they must be over.
If
