Zero Gravity

The Message and other poems

THE MESSAGE

The message came

from just around the corner

but the voice

seemed, suddenly,

so far away it could have

come from outer space

its shuddering impact no less jarring.

I have

one last arrow of blazing fire;

I have one last candle to

fend off darkness;

I have one last flower whose corolla carries

one last sharp drop of

morning dew

trembling at the edge of a petal so vibrant.

The message came

through the air, electronically-speaking

and there was small

and large disturbance.

I have one last star

to kiss goodnight;

it is a special star, could not

be closer

I have one last word to read out aloud

to myself, lest, as skylines fade,

the whole world stutter.

It is your name, but three wondrous, tiny syllables.

IF VIDAL SASSOON HAD WRITTEN THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

Beauticians of the world unite:

you have nothing to lose but

your false foundations.

Stylists of the world unite:

you have nothing to lose

but cascading locks and

beehive infernos.

Couturiers of the world unite

you have nothing to lose

except your accessorizing.

Supermodels of the world unite

you have nothing in the world to lose

but the Shylocked souls of

your best plastic surgeons.

GENERAL ORDERS

Sun Tzu

elevates tempo

above all other

tactical considerations

speaks

of the

great difficulty

of transferring weight

from foot to foot

and the terror of being

caught off balance.

This wisdom, now so outre

strikes me as so completely relevant

not on any heroic march

to save the integrity

of the People's Army

but to all the mountains climbed

rivers crossed, oceans swum

on the road here

to your house

some few five crazy-paved

garden path steps before me

where tapping lightly on that

varnished wood door

once... twice

I see your face

a little aged, but how

I still remember it

and wrung out of utter defeat

my one last, little victory.

POP GOES MY WEASEL THEORY

I thought I could

ferret out the reason

I thought if I set my mind to it

then I could find

why I am

superfluous to her

life requirements.

Turns out

the short and simple

explanation

is that, sweet as she is,

she is not the kind of woman

who could love a ferret,

ever

however otherwise

quick and smart and

decidedly slinky.