Loren Goodman |
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DEAR KEN From Providence passed a sunny patch Of sea water with leaves like some New Heaven. I’m spread out in the club car It’s a rocky ride with all the amenities I’ve got an apple in a bag Along with asparagus & Italian Sandwich. Can I have your attention? We’re now in Mystic. Two girls pass With low waistbands, pajama sweats That say “TOO LOW” on the back Funny how these trends take form And people live by them—someday They’ll be gone, and come back Changed. Once there I’ll hop On the 56 Vermonter with its green Wood paneling up to Amherst, Mass Home of Emily Dickinson. Then Disembark, eat dinner, take a walk Tonight at Amherst Books, 8 PM: Lorenzo Guzman & Miguel de Cassis, Yale Series Poets 30 years apart, Mike won with Obscenities, his best-selling war-cries From the molten human lava of Vietnam It’ll be fun, and warm To be with people I’ve never met, gentle And full of rip-roaring Intensities. Once I’ve slept And dreamt it’s back on the Bus and train to Man—hat—tan And its glimmering spires for A Saturday boy’s night out With Tim (editor-in-chief, Artforum) And Troy (commanding attorney For the city of Brooklyn) God Ken, the tight sweats Are so low on these girls’ Tan skin ass-hips! Kid across from me Is chewing at his Amtrak cheese- Burger in brow-bending confusion Over a deep blue white-water bridge Of whether it’s good or not “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll soon Be arriving in New London.” Ken the sea is There are cement posts Rising out of the water I’m glimpsing through tunnels Bathed in light The girls are smiling Warming their hair How the blonde speaks: “she Gets jealous so easily” but It’s sun music to me I’m heating up They’re stretching out A train conductor sits down With an oomph! Rattled with The bulky rhythm of the train She’s black, she’s beautiful She gets up, says: “I shall return!” Ken, this sandwich I’m eating is so good I’m sandwiched between the good feelings Of my trip and the sandwich itself (She’s back!) Ok, it’s true I haven’t started Eating yet but I’m telling you It’s gonna be great ** DEAR NATHAN For a new Etch A Sketch In which every knob & Screen is attached to Greenland So exactly what you etch And sketch appears in Deep & distant snowy Fields, some trees Deer crunching Tracks through Lines you’ve Formed as same In that far away Stretch of Greenland When you shake it It snows Now the de(nostril steam)er Quivers in the woods at field’s Edge; it’s just an idea Cool & alert, but It stays there As long as it stays In your mind |
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