1,966 Readings | 10 Ratings
300.00: Anxiety State, Unspecified
If the blue sky
were to mushroom brown,
another songbird species
to go extinct,
tulips to be eaten by rats
in winter, if the innocent die?
What if: arsenic placed
in the water supply, what if
on a path in the park under
overhanging trees a boy
of three is taken away?
If all trees die
each year? What if a cat
(to whom your fiancé
is violently allergic) sits
on the steps of the altar
while taking your vows
and instead of “I do” he sneezes?
Most marriages are doomed.
What would happen—
I swerve just a foot just
to this wall—
if you were to love me—
if the guilty go free—
if mountains were to throw
themselves into seas
and starfish to frolic
on skyscraper windows—
What if I could not swim
and you could not swim
and our children—
Then would we walk on water?
were to mushroom brown,
another songbird species
to go extinct,
tulips to be eaten by rats
in winter, if the innocent die?
What if: arsenic placed
in the water supply, what if
on a path in the park under
overhanging trees a boy
of three is taken away?
If all trees die
each year? What if a cat
(to whom your fiancé
is violently allergic) sits
on the steps of the altar
while taking your vows
and instead of “I do” he sneezes?
Most marriages are doomed.
What would happen—
I swerve just a foot just
to this wall—
if you were to love me—
if the guilty go free—
if mountains were to throw
themselves into seas
and starfish to frolic
on skyscraper windows—
What if I could not swim
and you could not swim
and our children—
Then would we walk on water?
Posted 03/10/09
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Comments (2)
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Lucid, crazy skillful and un-obnoxious anaphora. Beautiful last line. Resists sentimentality.
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01/09/12 2:58pm
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I really like this re-freshed poem. It's almost joyful, and it provides a kind of dig at the process, but only, thankfully, as a secondary effect.
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11/19/09 11:14pm
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