poem
with two lines from john milton

François Luong

 

this          is how the alarm clock is silenced.

                i could put an alarm clock on the page

                and call it poem,

                you could put a bathroom stall on the page

                and call it sculpture (poem).

                say it, poem (it, poem)(i will write it, poem).

                what a clever trick

                to squeeze a bathroom stall (the clever trick

is              in italics) between an alarm clock

                and a page, between

                a squeeze and a clever trick!

how         much does the alarm clock wishes to

                fly (envious time, till thou run out of thy race).

                a car crash may or may not end this flight.

                the alarm clock feels lonely

                after watching me

(i,             the speaker of the poem)(do not

                trust what the i shows you,

                this is all a construct of the text)

                walk toward the bathroom stall.

take         a xanax (aspirin), the alarm clock

                feels its heart pounding against the walls

                of its chest (there is no heart here,

                the alarm clock is a construct

                of springs and cogwheels),

meaning  might or might not be found here.

                you may or may not end up

                with a migraine. either way, none of us

                are getting out of this alive, perhaps

                by way of a car crash on the highway

away        from one's abode, the comfort

                of a bed, away from your embrace. is there a way of

                triumphing over death, and chance and thee o time?

from        the question, the end is nigh.

                there should be here a turn,

                an answer, a resolution,

                or a car crash.

                should it even matter?

you          and i are not even on the same page.

 

François Luong (TX)  is a Frenchman living in Houston. He holds a B.A. in English (Creative Writing-Poetry) from the University of Houston as has worked as an intern at Gulf Coast.


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