When Apostrophes Gathered

I.

for constructive seminars in Greece
on the cusp of a new season in the sun,
poetry evolved immediately –
thrown on the table by a jockey named Alexander
who was a really a micro-chip in disguise
with a nose for news and new experiences
persistent in his hipped attitude, although kind and
unpredictable as a plaything he could not destroy
since he tippled a lot during any day for the thrill of
transfiguration that sent a signal up his spine
as an excuse for serving more wine and shouting
“YES I CAN!” to whatever was asked of him,
as he continued developing movies into small vignettes
that ushered in a new way of
never using apostrophes again.

II .

Everyone turned away from him,
and he disappeared into the pages
of the Oxford Dictionary and
Roget’s Thesaurus, American Edition,
living happily on page 61 with an Apache Maiden
living on page 59, who spent a lot of time together in Paris,
dancing together in the 9th Arrondisement
at Shakespeare & Company’s Bookstore on the Seine
near Notre Dame Cathedral, where they are
perpetually welcomed most of the time by Sylvia Beach’s Godchild,
Sylvia Whitman, for tea and crumpets of a Sunday afternoon.

Hemlock

When I drink too much,
I tend to get philosophical.

Others get horny
or belligerent,
but I start in on Aristotlean
principles
of classification
or Epicurean justifications
for another bottle.

Sometimes
I dress up as Socrates
in a bed sheet
with clothes pin
complement
and go door to door
at 4:30 in the morning
trying to find anyone
who can
prove
me
wrong.

At that hour,
there arealmost
no takers.

Size Matters

Why do the Japanese
have to make everything
so small?

                Miniature phones
miniature computers
miniature cars…

              Someday soon
their miniature robots
will short circuit
and take over
the world.

And it will
all be too small
for any of
the rest of us
to notice.

Upon Reading the Back Cover
of My Old Lady’s
Harlequin

Teresa was feeling lonely.
Her hybrid werewolf boyfriend
had just broken up
with her.

              I feel for Teresa,
I said to my old lady
in bed,
we’ve all been
there.