Michael J. Vaughn
bio
Normal
I saw her at a Fellini festival
wanted to say how sorry I was
But realized it was like talking to the pitcher
about the home run
She'll never cross a street without snickers
whispers
pinhole leaks of our unacknowledged desires
I handed her a glass of punch
on behalf of America
and said, "Did you like the movie?"
She smiled and said
"It was odd, wasn't it?"
I said, "It always is."
Shuffle
(credit: co-authors Robert Pesich
and Anne Gelhaus)
Why should we listen to the newborn
crying in the next apartment?
He'll only grow up to be a jazz pianist
The bandoneon exhales smoke
the Creole taking over
water over wheels
A train
rips through the Wasatch
the Salt Lake dreaming of snow
But the desert dreams of April
and a hollow traveler knows
how to eat stones
The night's embrace
the neighborhood dog
Morning rises like a copper compass.
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