“Not a” hand / but an eye?, and: Poem
- “Not a” hand / but an eye?, and: Poem
“Not a” hand but an eye?
Amorous note on a sticky“Note,” at open grave yawning, whyDid you, by “a” faint strip of pasteCling to the stoneAnd trouble “a” cold body withWords “of” longing?
Pissing into “a” paper cup“The” clothing in which his coffeeCame “to” him, then, “with” unpracticedHand, loweringBits “of” “paper” down, “to” absorbSome “of” “the” wet.
Bored “with” “the” usual motivesInverted pyramid “of” smokeFrom “the” great cylinder, “did you”Seek “to” become“A” participant “and” maintainYour innocence?
Merely for something “to” say, heDescribes “his” inner conflicts “to”Those who look “to him” only “for”Integrity“And” thereby forfeits “his” last chance“At” happiness.
Hireling “in” “the” pay “of” chaos“And” “as” little known, what could beMore normal “for” one “who” works “in”“Your” professionThan “to” write an “amorous note”“To” “a” stranger? [End Page 145]
Reluctant “to” undo “the” claspBecause “he” liked “the” barrier“His” hands pulled weakly “at” “the” tapes“On” either sideFumbling, “with unpracticed hand,” “andAs little known”
Except “by” “those who” know better.I’m no longer having problems“With” water “in” “that” part “of” myFace, “he” says, but“He” is crying incessantly.Went “the” day well? [End Page 146]
Poem
I’m Chiquita Banana and“I’m” here to say all men protectThings they value. Big “men protect”“Big” “things” “and” small“Men protect” little “things” that “they”Consider most
Precious. In critical momentsIt might expand or shrink but it’sAlways the same “thing” they’re protecting“And” “it” makes themVulnerable. “It” consumes youYes? Like a piece
Of fruit “or” bite “of” “banana”“The” devil takes an interest“In” “little things,” sneezes, microbes“All” “the” details.I have never wanted “to” beHis caretaker
Oh please! This “yes” is unlooked forUndeserved, unreasonable“And” impolite. “I” know how “to”Commit myself.“It’s” not true “that” my heart draws “in”Two directions
“It” “is” “not” suspended. Nothing“Is” easier than knowing what“I” choose but “I” truly sufferFrom shyness “of”Declaring “myself” “like” “this” “in”Your company. [End Page 147]
“I have” learned disobliging wordsShould “not” “be” spoken when othersAre present. “A” “heart” shows enough“What” “it” prefersBefore “you” get “to” “the” point “of”Hurting someone.
“The” “banana” shape “that” promised“You” happiness. Really softerSigns “are” “enough” “to” inform “my”Suitor “that” “his”Attentions “are” unwanted. LoveWithout friendship. [End Page 148]
Aaron Kunin is recently the author of Grace Period, a book of aphorisms, sketches, and fragments. Cold Genius, a book of poems, is forthcoming. He lives in Los Angeles.
