Why Say That
why say that
under
what authority
do you mean
seeing
who sees
a lifelike figure
struck by
lightning or coincidence
a man
open
in his pockets
in an empty room
outside
seen from the inside
is complex
outside
looking towards the inside
is simple
~~
what penetrates him
a nice day?
with a wave with a waste
of his hands
folderollicles away
down
Mr. janitor
jingles
desperate
I’ll monster you with my
ruff
rough ruff
~~
I find myself
smiling
cat in sun
pleasure
like a little animal
comes up
like a big animal
chin glistening
yellow in the day
blue at night
Copyright © 2025 by Fiona Templeton. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 22, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.
“‘Why Say That’ consists of three brief and continuous scenes from my poetic play, The Blue. The Blue is written for two voices, though sometimes each person speaks in the voice of the other. They may speak in their own voice or both at the same time with slight variation. They may imagine what the other would say, or they may ventriloquise. Identity is slippery in this work, as are power and desire. So ‘who’ is speaking here is mobile.”
—Fiona Templeton
Fiona Templeton
Fiona Templeton is a poet, playwright, and the artistic director of the Manhattan-based performance group The Relationship. She is the author of twelve books, including the poetry collection, Cells of Release (Roof Books, 1997). Awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, she is the current Woodberry Poetry Room Creative Fellow at Harvard Library. Originally from Scotland, Templeton lives in Manhattan, on Lenape land.