Palinode 19

To make sense is not the descent of the artistic.

I try to be as grounded as I can.


The concrete the
               newly refurbished sidewalk
you can talk
               about the
great Delaware river           or you can the

you see the trash bags floating

               but you cannot get a good egg roll in                      this

and the water quality in Pennsylvania is apparently          superb

but no animal can make it here
               I just wanted a canary, but am afraid I’ll
forget to feed it or abandon it, leaving
               for a vacation and only realizing
it was left after the leaving

“we”
don’t have the patience
          to move aside           lightly

“we” stomp our feet           to
          make room for the other lessons

how does one          clean anything
          without feeling a
sense of regret about it         chase away the bed of hot springs make room
          for the ammonia water

cold&clean.

What clean thing would
          just pile up sounds and call them
something? I can feel myself doing it already—
I can hear myself                     speaking.