A Trick of Sunlight: Poems

Small Talk

Small Talk Not-Waking Sleep is the happy lover who Has no desire to let you go. “Stay in my arms,” she says, “Don’t move. Lie still, and be assured of love.” Imitatio Our lives are calques of others’ lives: The metaphor is what survives. Role-play, soothsay, then tell me who You think you are when you are you. “Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to” Of course, to recognize This quote, and more, its truth Means your myopic youth Was spent quite otherwise. 37 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. Magic I can imagine someone knowing you, Turning the pages of the O.E.D. And carefully cutting out the words that mean “Goodbye,” “Farewell,” so you could never say them, Then inking over all the words that mean “Anguish,” “Grief,” “Loss,” so he could never see them. Soteriological To make another person your salvation Is to be doubly sure of your damnation. “Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art” Dead authors are the easiest to bully, And few enough will take them at their word: “We must, if we’re to understand X fully, . . .” X marks the spot where parricide occurred. 38 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. Author, Translator . . . Author, translator; now their voices switch. Ventriloquist and doll; but which is which? Damnation à la Mode The various martyrdoms’ ungodly promises Ensure damnation to all doubting Thomases. But let them preach their millenarian premises; Eros and alcohol remain my nemeses. Finding We find that we outgrow, and are outgrown, And end where we departed from, alone. 39 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. There Absence becomes unbearable: old men Spell out the scriptures from a distant childhood. I shall be one of them I know, despite The incredulity of some I pray for. Acculturation “This was our life,” the parents said, “The moral, only, life—so follow it.” But long before the fools were dead They saw the children wouldn’t swallow it. Spleen How did it happen that life didn’t happen, That nothing turned out the way it was meant to— That though we set sail for the Fortunate Isles Cape Disappointment’s the landfall we’re sent to? 40 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. ...