1
you can go to bed and plan
to get up in the morning and dig a hole
and by noon, you can be done
this is not a good recipe for writing a poem

2
holes can house nasty things
three day question marks that ask
“did that happen? if I don’t think I did it,
does it count?” that’s when anything
you write can be held against you
in a court of law, and that’s just the
beginning, you have to remember
there’s no writing in a hole for a reason

3
there are certain rules that must be followed:
there are a specific number of holes
it takes to fill the Royal Albert Hall
magicians only get to reach in that hat once
if you say it and you don’t write it
it’s like it was never said

4
there’s a hole in the bottom of the sea
there’s a hole in the bottom of you and me
there’s a hole! there’s a hole!
in a sea that threatens to drown
you and me

5
when it comes to holes
too many can be a bad thing
when it comes to poetry
it’s entirely different
you shouldn’t hold back

6
self made tasks have a habit of coming true
you can decide to write a poem and it might never happen
or you could write one that sings the glory of holes
how they stay where they are, and are easy to find
but suddenly, in your poem, the holes begin to fly
all over the place like butterflies that you chase after
unable to catch them, until you stand there with
your net full of holes, no poem, nothing within it
what were you thinking?

7
plan to get up in the morning
resolve: scribble, relieve the tension
make it again, do not use a recipe!
include the word “apricot” at least once
if you stare too long at a page
it will swallow you like a blank hole

8
sink deeper into the compost of
everything you would like to forget
rescue an ocean from the salt of regret
read aloud the manifest of the bereft
sing to them of what is left, this delicious reason
makes it convincing, make it mean
more than you ever meant before
break down because your tears can’t cover it
nothing tastes good without salt

9
things make sense if not considered too closely
so does poetry, the reading or writing of it,
otherwise, the meaning of erosion begins
no matter what you plan to say
you can’t escape that
you might as well dig a hole and sink into it
your flag slowly descending along with you
at least that would be memorable

10
if there’s no magic
no one will believe it
if you can’t dance to it
you’re not singing

The rabbit doesn’t appear from the hat
the hat expands until it contains the room
the rabbit waiting patiently within
the moment is always en pointe
you lift to make the song fly
then disappear, as if you are gone

like someone who fell into a hole
to reappear, at exactly the right moment
poem leaping into your arms
as if it had never been there before
but there it is
right before your eyes

11
even if you are a living contract
with life itself, stars are unpredictable
there’s always time to rewrite yourself
explode into a moment that makes everything
new again, just as if you walked through a door
which is really just a hole standing up