
Polyglotony
Disrupting the murmuring stillness,
the nasally whine of a two-stroke motor,
hedge trimmers whipsawing
weeds framing sidewalk, infiltrating
cracks; cussing, shutting the sliding door,
blinds, hanging slats chiming emphasis.
YouTubing the same forty or
fifty tracks to obscure loud-talk,
daily spiels, tag lines, slogans,
old soundtracks from The Day juxtaposed, abandoned
settings, faded scenes bent at the corners,
consigned to the junk drawer of a life.
From behind the trees, beyond the berm
the kinked-up noises of a marching band
drilling on a high school football field,
Apala, Sakara commemorations, a
rogue clarinet, Samba-inspired beat with
a repetitive three-chord riff, a motorcycle
igniting, revving, a stray epithet uttered
beneath the drone of a single-prop banner-
toter, Ron Jon Surf Shop, AYCE shrimp.
For kitty interpreting noises
— an iPhone alarm, toilet flushing,
plop-hiss of an opened can,
faucet splurge, footsteps ascending
the stairs, a key in the door clicking
the pin tumblers, door unsealed,
grumbling thunder, thrumming rain,
jetwash overhead, television banter, dishwasher
churning — is a dialect she understands.
Quadrophonic
1) If things went well, we’d die here;
2) Insurgency, a volatile word,
1) cautionary tale — five years later,
after burning through his nest egg,
after unsuccessful stints in various
insurance jobs, cold-calling
and blind-prospecting an
oversaturated market
when the hotdog stand didn’t
fly, the beach hotdog scene
monopolized by a tall, tan woman
with long brown hair
wearing a thong,
3) Burberry for Men, or
Chrome by Azzaro?
1) he went back to the long
winters and perennially
overcast skies we escaped.
2) a defiant word, a Quixotic word,
unless they intend to succeed
by attrition,
3) Would I be home tonight, or
not until tomorrow?
4) Why do some squirrels have
tails less bushy than others?
2) no matter how long attrition
takes, decades, centuries,
3) Bursts of spray into the air, just three,
moving under them, misting myself,
4) Mange or old age is usually
the culprit AI informs me.
3) more than that and I’ll reek
of pretension.
2) by any means necessary.
4) Now, when I see a squirrel with
a thin tail I feel like I do when
I hear the cry of a loon, across a lake
like glass in the middle of nowhere.
Photogenia
Looking left of the camera,
Not directly into it,
(Face mostly toward the camera,
Slight turn to the side)
As if someone else is
Photographing them.
As though their attention
Was elsewhere, as if the pic
Weren’t premeditated
(Emotive pose, distracted).
As though we were admiring
Them as they pretended
To unnotice, accustomed as
They’d become to longing
Gazes or begrudging concession
(The slightest tilt of the head
Brings the shot to life).
There would follow the usual
Amount of validating comments,
Likes & loves, further
Incitement to post and
Repost when next they
Crave affirmation
(Mid laugh pose, slightly
Open mouth, raised shoulders).