Sunday, November 21, 2010

Ivor and Leslov


Ivor and Leslov

Ivor and Leslov face each other
over hot coffee.
They talk with urgency
and no little substance.

Ivor says, “No, no!  It wasn’t like that at all!
There was snow that year
and the roads closed. 
We had to sleep in
the railyard.  Don’t you
remember?”

Leslov shakes his head. “No, no!
You are wrong.  It was the year
before,
the year Marika began coughing blood
and poor little Istvan was lost
in the North Woods.
Anyway, you were deep in the vodka then,
how could you
remember
any of this.”

A slide of disgust.
A glance of mistrust.
And finally, the slight twitch that says,
“Yes, yes.  We know each other
 far too well.”

Silence.

The raising of mugs.

Sometimes,
  you have to forget.
Sometimes,
  it’s best to let go.

Dearest Isabel


Dearest Isabel,
I am in the tarnish of cloud we sought.
I am walking in the graveyard
along the sea.  I wander only the edge
where the questionable are buried,
their bones crumbling at the same rate as
the nuns resting higher up;  Sisters
cradled together in encouraged sisterhood,
seeking to define viewpoint even in death.

There are no postcards to send from here,
no tiny stones to pick up and send to you, my
Dearest Isabel, only this small vial of soil for
  your art
    your life
      your breath.
Though you disappear for years at a time,
there is no one who knows me
in the hidden ways you do
in my tarnish of cloud,
Dearest Isabel.

Heavily Doctored

Heavily Doctored

Line 1 please,
            holding –
MY god did you see
THAT?
last week there were
three in here like
THAT.
That’s the real
shit…

Line 2 please,
            one moment –
 internal dialogue
SNAPS
mousetrap mouth
shut
perform
ORAL sur-jury
on the
weighting room
(he’s your brOTHER?)

Line 3 please,
            dropped that call –
Are you sleeping on the
Job?
patients reclined
credit declined
they were just
chequeing IN
GOD help her
check OUT
(It’s all in the eyes, see?)

Line 1 please,    
            still holding –
someone cut him off
got enough tablets
(tabula rasa)
erase – erase
no messages accepted on this number…

Line 2 please,
infinite silence –

Fuck…