Alan Bernheimer
from Billionesque

 

 

Word of Art

 
 

 

First a flicker of telepathy
Then screw le mot juste
Carefully into its socket
So the electricity doesn't spill.

Act natural.
It isn't all honey for people with learning
And don't make excuses for rock.

Eye on curve, hand on lever, things on mind,
The rest of the subjects refer to you.

Words make wide open spaces.

Dissolve to perpetual motion
With time off for behavior.

The body likes its relations
Embroidering inventions
To say anything:

This music is not of my choosing.
The enormous seaminess throws a textbook punch.
But it wasn't the stars that thrilled me.