Rope Snake: A Fragment
(2)
mid-state the children force
everyday sliding on windows
the cost more insurance
and investment slowing
we work together for a maximum
high the original window
they’ll have to degrade
Old Saybrook mandates our
double hung garden
the mission our family takes
to the governors these
rankings cross and tackle
the best places size cuts
roughly the first redaction
and while we pace our
urge we’re also open
to the plan, some relief
but still in conflict
rooms always look better in
lamplight in London at least
you can say happy
and that would be enough
our day of retreat
lined up at the pavement’s edge
the blue and green standard
lifted high and then returned
if not vanquished hollowed out
after the surrender
dull sentinels of consumerism
and consumption
a flag of the nation
ready for battle
there was something else
California
my grafting in with life
took place in a small summer
colony on the coast
chin in left hand
glad that no strand had escaped
the book as funnel
everything narrowed to the present
page
buried with saints
or dogs
solitary uplift program
a concern for oranges
always more leaves
he’d add oil and vinegar
to memory and think yes
poetry is business without money
too many cars
he had solid or sordid
evidence
was this more “truthful”
than the truth
one usually hears?
(3)
a wide range of stones
huddled
the avalanche that’d
hook some relief
but still a conflict
an immigrant miner
a field trip to see it
make a house stand up
look at the man
take his pulse another person
shakes their head
eminent for piety
the saw that cuts the tree
hand over mouth
and swept along
or cemented
glued to the parlor
oh and by the way
saved and strengthened
pulled by two white horses