In Arboreal Time, A Collection of Photographs of Me Standing in the Middle Of Nowhere
by

EN: This is section 3 of “In Arboreal Time, A Collection of Photographs of Me Standing in the Middle of Nowhere,” which appeared in TiVo: Five Poems, published by Frances House Press. The front matter of TiVo and a complete scan of “In Arboreal Time” appear below.

la so
so la
so me
re me fa re fa me ti me
la so do re me fa so la ti do
la so do re mi la so ti re re me so
oh look, the marzipan ambush,
oh look, a burnt marshmallow,
oh look, Judy Garland, Avey Tare,
The corpse of the artist, oh look,
oh look, the day in advance,
oh look, samaritan duck meat,
shook shook a mind portico of
halberd Montgomery Montgomery
Humbert Humbert, oh look, Heaven’s Door,
oh look, oxtail soup,
oh look, throng in corridor,
oh look, leagues of Sung Tongs pustule,
oh look, lake como play tide in a movie,
oh look, of all stripes pruning the hedges
foremostly Advance Auto Parts,
oh look, under a curtain of Mantuan
doggerel in a whirlwind, Miss Schaumburg
oh look, the site is down
the sun is down, porter is slow,
I’m in Penelope art gallery selfie,
Miss Schaumburg, Johnson & Johnson
Geriatric capacity vial deliverer
closed down the street for Krabs,
back fused futile origami ugly duckling
do re mi fa sol, do re mi goreng

from Focal Point
And thus the procession
The lyrical motorcade glimpsed only by me
Bow — laugh — dance
Behold the king of the muses the carny the revenant
Smoke (after Thoreau)
Cash crops made a life more bituminous
For a continent who found the middle
One to Mix the Mortar, One to Shape the Bricks
i yell over the drone of machines to keep the word chicago
out your mouth