Quotes and Poems: Day 72

Quote:

"We each need to find our own inspiration. Sometimes, it is not easy." – Kiky's Delivery Service.

Poem:

Let Us Sample Protection Together

BY ANSELM BERRIGAN

When I was little I cut off the heads

of many lords. I can't count on the energy

that took to rise in me at will, but I've

strengthened my ability to make a

stand-firm surface. A steady gaze will drive

conflicted information away, back to the

abyss from whence it came, but I'll be right

here the morning after, wracked in a

private shame too awful to admit and

of no consequence at all. I work very hard

not to let myself go. Any channel

can tell. Due process appears in beauty

and misgiving at once; an agility

borne from creative malice, a benign

insecurity. The plain truth: I forget

the curtains are open sometimes and the

hands wander. The room stares back from its things:

They understand the end of the world, will

not waste time feeling your pain, and every-

thing tragic in between need not be known.

I don't want love or remorse to follow

I want them in the way, things to burst through

corollaries to be roped and tackled

by surprise, get killed, and thank you. One fate

transforms into another, but I won't

touch that bandaged story. I won't belong

to this scripted conversation, though I

may play along. Identity theft accepting

renewal orders, copycat pre-emptive attacks

an obscure murder string on the public

glide by sight, the victim a John doughnut

pining for leadership from the passenger seat.

The threat of meaning reassures: I know

it's being made for me. Am I supposed

to believe we're receiving information?

Can I defect back to curiosity

in the moonlight, stone rabbit? Hit on by

Echo, I go cold for the love of my

own exile, and while I hope, my flesh

explodes into an arrangement of stars

pestered by darkness. Those aren't birds you

hear, just their corresponding holes in the sky.

All the bottled water isn't fooling anyone.