Stuck Inside the Classical City
originally published May 28, 2008
Oh, do you remember what it’s like
To love a hot dream, to pursue a necklace
Of languidness? To paddle through
A sea of changes to reach a notorious island?
What bland streets you grew up on,
What fine teeth you & yours possess.
I’ve been jumping fences, doing calisthenics
In the yard before anyone else was up.
It was such a mistake to ask your father
About the childhood magic shows, about whose
Rabbits you used, et cetera. He never looked
At me the same way again. Although I know it’s hopeless,
What can I do? You swallow my list of grievances
Whenever I see you. Can I feel this much like an
Assassinated film star and still go on living my life
In a meaningful fashion? Who made space? Is God
A man or a woman, or a sex beyond both our fathomings?
What happens to dead animals inside a black hole?
What if we lose each other in the smog by the river,
What if the overtures & the epilogue never get written?
It’s always going to be something. It’s not really so
Terrible. Let’s go buy some grapefruit, let’s gaze at the gauzy sky
Like unrepentant spies freed from a long captivity.
Mike Landers
Jeff Fallis (poem) and Mike Landers (photo) both live in Athens. Fallis’ poems have appeared in The Oxford American, The Iowa Review and Ploughshares. See more of Landers’ work online at www.mikelanders.com.
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