3 hours ago
On Juxtaposition
Almost irresistible, this need
to make good sense of things,
to see the lathe turn
ancient trees into a chair
or vanity, a bat for kids
to make a fist around and swing
with force—as long as life is
doing work, we take it
as it comes.
If a stray ant is found
carrying bread,
it gets to live.
If I say yesterday
the man who sat beside me
had a gun,
and there’s no blood
by the fifth stanza, readers
feel deceived—if, in my dreams
I dream I am a great blue whale
and there’s a pool in my backyard
without a cover,
I might not wake up.
Almost irresistible, this need
to make good sense of things,
to see the lathe turn
ancient trees into a chair
or vanity, a bat for kids
to make a fist around and swing
with force—as long as life is
doing work, we take it
as it comes.
If a stray ant is found
carrying bread,
it gets to live.
If I say yesterday
the man who sat beside me
had a gun,
and there’s no blood
by the fifth stanza, readers
feel deceived—if, in my dreams
I dream I am a great blue whale
and there’s a pool in my backyard
without a cover,
I might not wake up.