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

Credit

Copyright © 2019 by Chris Tonelli. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 16, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“A Test of Company is a kind of tribute to Emmanuel Hocquard, whose recent passing was a big loss. His A Test of Solitude (Burning Deck, 2000) has meant a lot to me over the years, and this manuscript I'm working on is a response to that—my way of eulogizing and expressing gratitude. And also a weird way of communing with him—applying his style and form to my own—like wearing a tie or a brooch of someone you miss very much.”