Vinculum

We arrived. We observed.
We drew a line to tie
What we had to divide,

And then we crossed over
That line, gained dividends
Of all kinds, larger than

Whatever divisors
Divided us, only
To die on the far side.

Just kidding. Don’t worry.
We didn’t die. Numbers
Are words for what never

Dies, nor do any words
Actually die. We glide
Over whatever line

You might draw to divide
Being something, quantum,
Quantity, an essence,

Some kind of existence,
And then you can’t see us.
We don’t die. We can hide.

We can leave, not observe.
Stay our side of the line.
Make us live; then we’ll die.


Godly

The past exoticizes
Any old thing that survives.
Dig this poem out of the dirt

In five thousand years or so,
It will seem strange, mystical
Maybe, untranslatable.

Maybe its material
Will be its most valuable
Aspect; maybe its script.

Maybe a godly people
Will find it shocking. Maybe
They’ll see proof of godliness,

Their own righteousness, somehow,
In this small scrap left of this
Undgodly, awful era,

When someone could write a text
Too amoral to admit
Future gods created it.

Musical Chairs

One can imagine
A single, global
Surveillance state still

Absurdly human
As that drama when
A row of old men

On their matching chairs
Forced one old man out.
Get out of here! Go!

A hole in the row
Was left during votes,
A gap as goofy

As a missing tooth,
Edited later—
One fewer chair left

And one old man less,
And who could miss him
Among cruel old men?

A’Chasing the Deer

The most frustrating of all
Things, knowing’s never enough.
Knowing yourself is never

Enough for you to behave
Admirably as you wish.
Knowing others is never

Enough to orchestrate them
Or simply be safe from them.
Knowing facts about the world

Is enough to predict things,
Lots of things, accurately
Sometimes, such as that knowing

Is never enough, knowing
Sometimes is never enough.

Manifest Control of Life

Every day, repeat this mantra—

I refuse to remain immortal!

I will not put up with agelessness!

I will not let these bones stay strong!

I insist that the whole Earth spin around!

See? It’s working, isn’t it? Well done.