sarah masen
A train passed through my living room
by [jp/p] on Sat Sep 20 14:09:17 +0000 2003 in Melting Pot
So I
wrote a
thing
where the words are staggered
and there’s a presumption of rhyme,
if none,
about a letter I tried
to write you
when my mind was still cotton
but it emerged
like ketchup does
when it’s been too long
since you used the stuff
like the television
pictures
where a false heat is rising
from behind a fence of fries
and a soft drink
beads sweat
like some underfed model
on a beach
in the dead of winter
When all I really wanted to say
was something simple, if not unique,
demure
like
how are you tonight?
or bold
like
what makes you breathe?
to the point
like yesterday
was such a disappointment
It was loud
and hot and I felt
completely insignificant,
microscopic by the time I explained it
to the one person who should get it
So I asked for something smaller
in easy-to-swallow pills,
easy-to-crack
aluminum backs
just faces
in fall
just tea
under a sighing fog
