from “A Test of Company”
I
small victories small wars
a famous person
played chess in the woods
whatever repeats                  whatever 
input we have          a disappearing
that knows how to proceed                                    
local realities            made up
exclusively                 of their own grammar         
but only if their grammar
is voluntary                
victorious feelings                 without victory          
sam calls                     our teams are playing          
we are getting older             can only hope            
for a beautiful result
 
II
activity
is a truth that conveys
no information                              a local
threat                                               a distant                    
possibility                                       autoplay                     
tabs on tabs on tabs
I buy the hat              that my bitmoji had
in a threat of forests             a savant
of anger                      a savant of nothing
to be angry about
a hierarchy                of satisfactions
the next activity                    
the best distraction               
it’s never too late                  to stay the same  
 
III
                           very few things
are not
                           warnings
                           cultural
                                      touchstones              
                                      parlor
tricks
the body reacts
                           to what reacts
                           to it
a sort of           
            leverage
             a kind
                       of loyalty
Copyright © 2019 by Chris Tonelli. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 16, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.
