i'll be here for a while then i'll go away

Look at your cat
as he enters a room
with what punishing grace.
Give up your infected ambition.
The human is a mess.

hinges

Once upon
a time

poetry told
us something.

It was a
map, an eyeglass.

2

The name
of the black cat

on the front
porch is Hydra.

Hydra is
the name of the

black cat on
the front porch.

***
This poem appeared originally in slightly different form in Scrivener Creative Review (no.29, 2005).