Saturday, July 18, 2015

Leave Me Alone

Leave me alone. I never laughed at you,
I never stole and ate your damn dessert,
I never tugged your hair or tore your shirt,
I never smeared your running shoes with glue,
And always left your pile of books askew
The way you liked it. You were never hurt
The way you injured me, artful and pert,
When I confided what I wanted, too.

So no, we're not the same. I'm really nice
And you are hateful, as our dark shared pasts
Will demonstrate. We weren't iconoclasts,
Just youngsters, thoughtless and deaf to advice.
I never slipped a sharpened piece of ice
Down your neck. And this feeling lasts and lasts.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Planning

I'm planning for the installation here
Of planters, large urns, and a Viking ship,
All held together by a paper clip
And four brown flathead screws, which disappear
Under the bright lights. There's an atmosphere
Of cheerful nonsense: an enormous rip
In my best trousers. You will get a grip
On your explosive temper, there's a dear.

If this is art, then I am Mister Art,
The finest, most creative superman
That ever held a brush and a paint can,
Incredibly insightful, wicked smart.
I understand how most things fall apart
Unless a paper clip is in the plan.