tower

at first people didn’t like the tower
then they took it for granted
the revolving disco restaurant spelt “sparkles”
differently each night
and people put up with it
graciously
as if some dear friend’s first born shat upon the rug
or someone you dined with spat up a hairball
you just smile and continue as if
nothing ever happened
soon, the city began to identify with the tower
it posed on postcards with pretty girls
everyone got used it to it following them around
like your little brother
or a faithful puppy
dragging its big head over the horizon

toy

world in miniature
push it, make it go
spinning, no meaning,
just wind and pull

now
which switch
turns
the damn thing
off?

traffic

bright bead proceeding pulse
bracelet wound about and around
digital dot dash plastic glass steel

windows pass, reflect the sun
paint on side of highway verge
flashes of light like hidden birds
appear, disappear, frozen in flight

truck

ten tons of steel
shimmers on the highway
like a plate glass window
i look through
and see a mighty animal we have built
powerful, beautiful, full of love
i want to pet
and feed you
bring you everything
you want
thousands of miles dwarfed
into exotic fruit
fragrant lips engulfing
this seed from far away
what would fulfill you?
tell me, command me
i would nurture you
from strange, distant fields

vacuum cleaner

there’s something irresistible
about a vacuum cleaner
all sleek and shiny and new
it screams glamour
you can feed it anything
and it eats it
without complaining
of course as they grow older
vacuums aren’t quite as good
for instance —they get fat
we pretend we understand
and try not to complain
but then things really deteriorate
vacuum cleaners get too old
scratched, dirty, ragged
they clog
roar and roar and roar and roar
but never really get it up
it’s pathetic
someone suggests
changing the bag
but by then
it’s too late

water

water demands respect
and water gets it
water kills people
and gets away with it
we all need it
so no one says anything
it frightens us
no one admits it
water doesn’t need us
and we know it

window

look at your window
do not see what is outside
walk to your window
ignore the room
run your hands along its frame
feel the sill
trace the architrave
embrace the lintel
now open
an entire world

this is your book
this is your video
this is your masterpiece

wood

wood is only
an imitation
of steel

xerox

the quantum fact is true
the quantum fact is distortion
it looks the same
it feels the same
copy it again times two
watch the black swallowed
the white swallowed by grey
distortion
the image of breakdown copying breakdown
science collapses at its edges
artists love xerox