AS THINGS ARE

The gods

Of poor men

Are generous 

Unfortunately,

They're broke

Too.

 

CONJURED

 In a seminar on modern women's poetry

(Fall Term, 1970) we felt it would be

Appropriate, or at least fun,

To summon up the ghosts of

Emily Dickinson and Stevie Smith.

Miss Dickinson sent a polite note 

That she didn't feel she was modern

And was uncertain whether a ghost 

Could rightly claim to be something 

So intrinsically living as a woman.

The wry ghost of Stevie Smith 

Answered a few questions before 

The indignant poet came to collect  

Telling us her death wasn't scheduled 

Until some time in 1971.

VISITOR

 My father's ghost worries

That I'll forget his father 

Who died when I was four.

He comes by to tell me this

But gets distracted

And asks why I'm writing 

Poems about asphalt.

MATERIAL

The word "asphalt"

Comes from Middle English

Which took it from French

Which took it from Late Latin 

Which took it from Greek.

It may mean 

"Not causing to fall."

Experiments show it drips

Like cold molasses.

It is mostly made of polar

And naphthene aromatics;

Saturated hydrocarbons 

Determine its softening point.

It should not be confused 

With coal tar, "a visually similar black, 

Thermoplastic material produced

 By the destructive distillation of coal."

During World War II an ersatz 

And unsatisfactory form of asphalt 

Was made from old memories.

 

RUNAWAY

 

Stettheimer's father, Joseph, had five children with Rosetta Walter but deserted his family for Australia."

--Wikipedia entry

It is hard enough 

To lose a husband 

To another 

But losing him 

To a continent -- 

Even a small one --

Is humiliating.

Years later

At a reception,

Australia  apologized

And said Joseph

Had moved on

And was living

With Antarctica.

CREATION

Given the haste with which 

We made this world -- We

Were not the first choice or

Even the second -- We think 

It does Us credit. Certain shortcuts 

Were unavoidable -- some stars

Hang from thumb-tacks and

We had to use twine to enforce

The bonds between lovers.

TEMP

My shadow was

Indisposed and 

The one I rented

So infirm that 

I had to put it 

In a wagon and

Haul it behind

Or push it ahead.

 

After a while 

It began waving

Regally to the

Walking shadows and

Pleading 

For their votes.