Nadia:
the sea declines
its faultless pergola extends
over all the soft-bodied and the bony
and those clenched within paired shells
and those scuttling, crabbed, from one similar rock
to another
The sea now darker than the sky and now lighter
and today, while the day was running down, a muskrat
lurched from the weave of leaves and then turned tail
and entered the dark interior of the shrubbery
the sea reclines
its rubbery pergola dubs
the critters with taxonomic orders
makes of them all representatives of florid phenotypes,
budding species in a branch without managers
this is no place for solemnities or meager measures meant
to indemnify the longueurs of a difficult book against
unintelligibility. this is no time to place bets, to file down
snagging edges of regrets. arrest the long-lived filaments
before they exhaust the glow that’s in them. fill the lucid space with dangerous
vapors and watch it illuminate with half the expenditure. when that
globe shatters, watch it. when that globe, watch out.
the sea clowns and totters where shore
and birds meet, filament lining the pond, pond
smocked with brick-colored algae, stippled with swans,
its rim at the brink and spilling over among the vertical
stems, the reeds silent and limp as the swans.
Bela:
the sea declines
its faultless and approximate rhymes extend
over all soft-bodied and bony nouns, horned
and clenched over shell pairs, oyster flesh, and scuttling crabs
an undulating tongue of meat
The sea now darker and the sky now barking
The sea now darker and the sky now barking
and today, while day was running down the street, a muskrat
rose up in the opposite direction, lurching from the weave of leaves
and then turned tail into the shadows of the aqua-solar shrubbery
the sea inclines
the sea inclines
its rubbery pagoda dubs
the critters orderlies,
makes all of them representatives of Florid Phenotypes,
budding employees at a branch that's barely managed
This is no place for solemn ties or meager measurement meant
to indemnify the longueurs of a business suit against unintelligibility.
this is no time, replace your bets, file down the snagging edges of regrets, or let them sag out of their files. Amass the longing filaments
And let their glow exhaust you with their long lives. Fill the luminescent
Spaces with dangerous smells and watch yourself expire with half of the
expenditure. When that lobe shatters, watch it. With that lobe watching
The Sea Clowns and Otters meet birds
At The Shore, filament lining their bond, the bar
smocked and lined with algae bricks, stippled with snaggle shells
and spilling over on the vertical
wine glass stems and beer, a pond silent and dim
NADIA:
let them sag out of their flies
then cough until it's clear you're barking
and bark until hair sprouts on your shanks
and a brand new gland seeps scented oils for social
ends; this gland managed by an obtruding lobe
that coils beneath your thinking brain
let them lobe, until lobbing, the loaf splits and shows
its lily-white phalanges: this is the salt passage, twelve
lumens bright and barking on the table, like a sucked
lozenge. over there, twelve acres decked with white pine,
stunted, and some trees, roused and umber, stacked
with small fruits that only here are called plums, less sweet
than elsewhere and mealy, a treat for sucking deer, a passable jam.
NADIA! NADIA! NADIA!
This is no place for solemn ties or meager measurement meant
to indemnify the longueurs of a business suit against unintelligibility.
this is no time, replace your bets, file down the snagging edges of regrets, or let them sag out of their files. Amass the longing filaments
And let their glow exhaust you with their long lives. Fill the luminescent
Spaces with dangerous smells and watch yourself expire with half of the
expenditure. When that lobe shatters, watch it. With that lobe watching
The Sea Clowns and Otters meet birds
At The Shore, filament lining their bond, the bar
smocked and lined with algae bricks, stippled with snaggle shells
and spilling over on the vertical
wine glass stems and beer, a pond silent and dim
NADIA:
let them sag out of their flies
then cough until it's clear you're barking
and bark until hair sprouts on your shanks
and a brand new gland seeps scented oils for social
ends; this gland managed by an obtruding lobe
that coils beneath your thinking brain
let them lobe, until lobbing, the loaf splits and shows
its lily-white phalanges: this is the salt passage, twelve
lumens bright and barking on the table, like a sucked
lozenge. over there, twelve acres decked with white pine,
stunted, and some trees, roused and umber, stacked
with small fruits that only here are called plums, less sweet
than elsewhere and mealy, a treat for sucking deer, a passable jam.
NADIA! NADIA! NADIA!
