Linguistics From the Line Steward

I

A repeatable wonder should
prosper produced in Mexico
with materials from Malaysia.

–that exotic touch, like miracles on the assembly line–

We could use it as an attachment
for our eyes, so we shine back
at the camera with gold, not red-rotted desire.

–eyes jaded by watching the wind blow detritus down Queen Street–

We could create a reseller’s marketplace
on the internet; a place to
trouble-shoot and praise.

We could attach values to the unvalued
and license vendors from sea
to profit-driven sea in small mall kiosks.

–purchased with vouchers and twenty percent discounts off arbitrary
monetary place-holders–


II

Poems crawl from the shadows
when I stand under streetlights. Imagination creates
mythologies; populates the unpopulated worlds
I see in doorways and blind alleys. I’m
in metamorphosis, looking for definition.
Each reality is a brush stroke against
the canvas of time; ethereal wonder.


III

Material desire is a defense
against the failure to find the creatures
within; stencils on glass for Christmas
and Easter; ghosts attached to maple trees
in October; the flag flown on mast day.

We write the manual for the importance of life
and the importance of death. In this world,
there is a clash of novels. The poet
stands aside and cooks the ten thousand
meals to be consumed before.