At Billy Collins’ favorite time to write
The dove on the bare
electric wire is silent,
attentive, stoic, unafraid
or she would not have stayed
perched alone there
where the hawk, confident,
hunting from her perch, made
invisible, might trade
a life
for death
in one
silent
f
e
l
l
swoop.
Former students everywhere–
my librarian, my landscaper, my accountant.
How old can I be?
Brittle map—
unfamiliar names
scrawled legend
color bled compass
tattered corners
seeking wind.
Beyond serpents & charts
lies a paradise—
or desert, or ruins,
or a mistaken ghost of Hope
skirting like a cloud before the sun, tinged red with embarrassment.
Reach for the rails
of water’s fear cage.
In a strange city over coffee
I ask why we’re here.
My friend pulls a bible from her purse.
When I asked my question,
I just meant that CMA weekend is not
the best time for a trip
to Nashville.
I am warned of her fears
about my salvation.
I’m not in gods good graces.
I imagine hell is
a humid CMA weekend
in Nashville.
I imagine hell
is full of queer folks
forced to wear baggy gym shorts
and sweating in the summer heat.
It’s only slightly raining;
a drizzle, not a downpour.
We watch drag queens
mediocre performances
to Karaoke country music.
In hell they only play
the shitty country music.
Heaven has the rights
to the album with “Redneck Woman.”
Word is… God is not lending it out
anytime soon.
On an intercom we are told
a medium place has been made
as an exception for:
Lady Gaga, RuPaul, Elton John, and Ellen.
They will not be joining us.
I pray for my own salvation,
or at least gym shorts
that show off our
honkey tonk badonkey donks.
You’re So Vain
The weather is absolutely perfect,
because it snowed last night.
So this morning after breakfast,
we built a snowman. The hardest
part was rolling the huge bundles
for his lower body. We couldn’t
do it by ourselves, so Dad helped
us. Then he told me to go get
a scarf to wrap around
Mr. Snowman’s neck.
I remember Dad singing
along to an old song: a lady
sang about an “apricot” scarf.
So the choice was obvious!
He’s the coolest snowman
on the block.
