GROUP WORK

The task assigned, classroom order
breaks into mumbly chaos.
They convene and are
uncomfortable.
The hardest part
is overcoming inertia,
getting in the mood, but once
they do, it’s not
about English (capital E) anymore. Now
is for making
each other laugh and admire, and English
can be useful for that.

WATCHING THEM WRITE

Whatever you believe, this
is spiritual. Inward,
with breath-work.
Each one is elbows
and inkpen, bent
like a desk-lamp
illuminating empty
paper filling, emerging
something of the brain-soul,
and all I have to do
is say it:
Ready, Set, Write.
Bow your heads in prayer.

POOR WOMAN’S ROSES

Did she
really like
carnations,
those flowers of
disposable boutonnieres,
of teenage prom corsages—
squeaky-toys for puppy love?

Or did she let him think
they were her favorites
because she believed
they were the most
she deserved?

PAINT

Wall, wall, do you mirror
us? Sterile canvas
for dents and stains.

Let’s patch and spackle,
roll on a thick coat
of fresh green. The best
money can buy.

FOR SALE

Player Piano
Works Great
or it did, anyway, until
I started carting it around
in the back of this pickup truck
trying to sell it.
This duct-taped sign bites
its finish, this city’s soot
clogs its keys.
But once, when Rita Hayworth
came over on the arm of my father’s
coworker’s brother,
it played, and held highball glasses,
and was a novel entertainer.