Ordinary Ode
Paul Cordeiro
The cat's fur ball
velcros to my pants leg
and its hairs won't ever clean.
The $4,000 bay window fogs
and drips on the unstained wood
and the cost of last night's fish
dinner knifes me as the wife
knifes the heart as she says
fuck to how much sweat any task took
given her pleasures and desires.
Why poet's speak of loss
so much and the Old Testament's
Ghost shall forgive her fickleness
and trespasses as I won't do.
Why every damn thing sings until
it either decays or falls apart
as I keep the broom handy
and vow to break off the porch webs
and sweep the acorns dropping
without struggle.
I watch the cobs, floaters, filaments
lift on the wind
as my soul will someday
sky with a kite string's spirit
I hate to eye on
the heart's evil wheel spinning
without a laugh and wine.
