Gertrude
E. Fleischman
i. is a frustrated poet
okay, now what
does the blank page say to the poet
who has had a bad day?
At sunset
everything symbolizes loss.
The page is a dry clown
saying, ³lay off you.²
Put down the pen
and slump into the kitchen,
turn on the kettle.
Your pronouns have become steam;
the heat of the stove is the only vowel.
ii. has this situation
I decide i’m living in a dream,
but what do you say to a six-foot squirrel?
The walls, the air, animals, and buildings speak
with as much authority as anybody.
The ground moans constantly.
Objects will speak to one another, and to people
because they are adjacent.
An object on my table is first a guitar, then a Scrabble tile, then a shattered flower, then a candy corn...
iii. remembers to breathe
Where last was air so friendly?
In Hawaii, it rained on warm days;
we were playing in the street,
we were laughing statues.
Lungs recognize the size of air.
The back in sleep is as flat as ocean bottom,
as permeable as Precambrian haze.