A student of Ars Memorativa speaks out

The distance from sun to earth, the definition
of vertex vs. apex, or acme, for

that matter, what Hobbes meant, whether
or not a bumble bee should fly because I’ve

heard conflicting reports,           I will never

remember my lock combination (having
resorted to numbers written along the side of

my running shoe) or a phone number when
using a rotary dial, that I’ve

learned this lesson before, already tended
these wounds,                               I will never

remember how to tie the perfect slip knot,
names of goalies or baseball stats or identify

a down, even though I’ve heard the football vs.
chess analogy any number of times, and then

there was something about Erik Satie and
vegetables that’s on the tip of my tongue, a

predilection, or an aversion, that I’ve lost
walking through this house, room
by room,                                           I will never

remember that I’ve heard all your words
before, this moment                      I will never.

morning observation #52

Waking up next
to you reminds me

of opening a cabin
after winter, the
musty smell of blankets
& rugs meeting fresh air

or cutting across a park
on a spring day, knowing
I’ll slide through mud.

A quick survey of an Atlas of the Night Sky reveals

I am a meridian       marking my place above (+) or
below (-) the horizon       the stars (do I have to use
the word canopy? does it have to come to that?) say

wherever I stand is the centre of the universe
the zenith always directly above my head       (the
surest path to heaven?)      forcing me to look up

the definition of apogee       (the most distant point
from an object being orbited)       and so I stand
still       cataloguing activity      (celestial-wise).

I can always find time

Send out book length missives
about the great lakes, underwater
wrecks, depression-era small town
industries & how they all somehow
connect to the episode of Dawson's
Creek when Pacey & Jen were caught
in the storm, provide remedies for
bad backs & caffeine detox, methods
to combat stage fright, list various
means of distraction & denial, or
wonder if anyone can say how long
it takes for a drowned body to rise
to the surface.

morning observation #49

after a night of Thin Man games (I’ll take
5 more – line them up right here!), I’ve discovered

that mornings aren’t so witty when you don’t
own a proper dressing gown

and I am, in fact, not Nora (or Myrna)

my mouth too dry for a pithy
retort, my mouth too dry
to say pithy

morning observation #51

Soundscapes was made for people
like me open late to catch
drunken stragglers desperate
for a final round desperate to not
appear desperate catching looks
over cd racks (wood & beautiful)
browsing the Americana section pulling
out the Gram Parsons just one more time

Dedication

I want to love you like a William
Carlos Williams’ poem : a different story
when said out loud : a rhythm

I hum sweetly in my head.

We knew each other’s bodies before
being naked : light touches : hips : lower
backs : slightly flushed cheeks

repetition : your voice : your breath :
your breath over me : your breath
over my body : my body over

you : a sweetness like plums : fresh.