The FAB&PP Poem of the Month for March, 2000


a poem in several parts

some days i think
'this is madness'
the day
dreaming the
time
marking
     the
pages full
of fitful
poetry

big plays on
small
words
scribbled
still
     on
smaller
pages

but no, i
think, i'll be
ok
     at that
[finally,
when i'm]
retired moving
thorough the
same old
banalities

in tottering days
     isolated

[i think]
i'm good at
routine and
i've got this
one down pat

bathroom
breakfast
medication
shower

     
the cats perched
on bedroom
monuments
waiting for the
morning dance to
start
     swapping off
their duties

     one
will play the
other
disappears or
pouts or
meditates with
dorothy
or lazes
in the living room
waiting for her
cue

the other
goes to
work

rubs my
knees and
[then]
politely leaves
when I rise

     
the way i used
to follow the mass
from the side
balcony over
looking the latin
mutterings and
putterings
marking my
missal with
feathered angels
anticipating the
movement
my conscience
suspended my
disbelief another
matter the
harmony of the
day the
focus the
kneeling and
[going through]
the motions

[i think]
the activity
     is the
goal
the routine
the reward
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