A Poem about Intelligence for My Brothers and Sisters (audio only)
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6.3.96-6.4.96
Dear Adrienne
But love was never more
than what Elijah
listened to
That small
that still
a summoning forever
immanent
regardless of its wavelength
pitted against tyrannies
gigantic
in a kitchen
or some other battlefield
computer rituals of quit
or cancel
or the friend who lies
It is often—like the calling
of the psychopath
“a clean cut kid”—
that we mistake
the madness of the trickster
demon
for our own
or
minimize the meaning
of these words on open
opening
space
inside this cartoon
context
where it’s normal
to approach a wall
for money
this then
is the lens
to magnify
ignite
redeem
and willingly defy
the maggots eager
for that moment when
our spirits die
and dying
deify the fearsome
meretricious
killer agencies
that jeopardize
the birdsong of our days
Oh, Adrienne!
This is that love
It’s here
Between us
growing