Daily Archives: May 29, 2013

May 29, 2013

The Political Is Only Personal On Off Nights

By Tony Brown

About something
not obvious we have
almost nothing to say

though it may be full of earwigs
ready to chew us up
Though it may be ravening rapidly
obliquely to the top news story
Though it may swing old lions by the tail
and stomp the young into the earth
Though it may fill itself 
with poison champagne
spilling easily for its champions 

if it ain’t easy
to see sides to it
we set it aside

though it’s work worth doing
and there are possible cathedrals and temples in it
Though people die in between its positions
as if those were jaws snapping without thought
Though it is work that has never been attempted
full of grave dirt
and torn shrouds

if it is not work someone else
will do with us
we act like it’s not to be done

though this is our watch
though this is our work
though we are the problem
though this is the most crucial thing
though we are the problem
though we stink of it undone
though we are the problem

we do not do what needs doing
unless we can hang the blame
on a banner and slogan
bearing a finger pointing off stage

 

1 Comment   |  tags: , , | posted in poetry

May 29, 2013

Go In

By Tony Brown

You exhort the poet on stage
to “go in.”  As in, dive deep,

into the darkness, while remaining
onstage and in the spotlight.

Welcome to the American expectation.
It doesn’t matter how divorced you feel

from the rest of society —
you are waving a fat and greasy flag

full of Freud, Oprah, Facebook,
and the red white and blue

at someone who might be an artist
or might not, but who you certainly want to be

your pet goat, your truth teller,
your beard, your hide-behind.

Stay home and try it next time with a TV
and a boatload of reality shows.

You’ll save money
and when you implore

whoever’s on the screen to “go in,”
the only downside will be

that it may be a hoarder you’re talking to
and there may be more in there than you wish.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in poetry

May 29, 2013

Tell Me A Story

By Tony Brown

There is only one correct response
to the demand, “Tell me a story,”

and it should begin with the words,
“Once upon a time.”

So: 
tell me a story.

~~

I am waiting.  I know
this pause will not last.  Think, recall, feel

how you left home or first fell 
into a lover’s eyes;

how you first came
to know fear, ecstatic trembling, rain.

It’s there.  Even if it’s familiar
to all, it’s what is asked of you.

~~

“Once upon a time…” Why only once?
Explain just that and it will do. For now.

A story remains the sweetest way 
to go from here to there.

“Once upon a time…” Begin, and the end will appear.
Launch or tumble, the end will appear.

“Tell me a story.”  You’re sitting
and nothing comes to you?  What — are you a log?

Even a log has cuts and splits.
Even a log has rings and burls. 

“Tell me a story.”  You’re sitting
as if a sword was about to be pulled from a stone.

Yes, that’s momentous, but you could speak of the grip.
You could tell us what the weather is like there.

~~

“Tell me a story.”  “Once upon a time.”
There to ensure we never stop talking.

Once upon a time there was an annoyance
only curable by the application of narratives.

If I tell you that story,
will you fall back to sleep until morning?

~~

Note, finally, that there has been
no mention of “ever after.”

This is because it’s of no importance
to the Journey.  You may disagree.

If you tell me a story and can prove me wrong,
I will love you ever after.

 

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