Poem For Andrew Carnegie

red green orange
montage the entire country
by summer has two months to get
all awake the last time

this island its chest builds
to catch a drop
of vain loneliness of radio
enough to bear steel

an ancient road
its bones buried




from Thebes (1991)

Variety Lights

getting paid is so much more visceral
when you get paid in cash

sliding all those little bills
all the varying shades of green and grey
into the autoteller's slot

the feel of that paper
that isn't paper
between your fingers
as the machine takes possession

their names invented
by denomination
on the slip of white paper
the machine gives you back

they're listed by number
an attempt at anonymity
but you can still see their faces
smiling back at you

Curse

peop lefindt
ables an d flo
were d plates
of ba dfo
od gu tach
es low
tort
ur e

Evolution of the Suit

we're being trained on early mammals now
before that it was reptiles
before that amphibians
before that various kinds of primitive fish
and way before that one-celled organisms
so hard to see      so boring that way
you spent hours staring out the window
out at nothing


they tell us the course will peak
with the evolution of the modern businessman
that this is what we're all detined for
the peak     of what a being can be
i only hope that it'll be springtime
with something interesting to stare at outside the window