Al Fresco Cafe Poems #29

Painting by Ulisse Caputo


AL FRESCO CAFÉ POEMS #29

We think, or imagine,
Or dream,
Or do whatever we do,
Whatever
It is that takes place
In consciousness
To conclude.

A conclusion ends,
An ending although
Uncertain about
Its middle, more uncertain
About its beginning,
Substitutes as in a sex clinic
For a wife a surrogate,
This nubile adolescent
Takes the place
Of induction, deduction,
And intuition,
There is then a reliable relation
To signification.

Something in a green,
Thin, translucent kimono,
Something purely a verbal construction,
Something of
An acquaintance is met,
Something very intimate
That remains a stranger,
And is recognized by something other
Than its appearance.
Metal metamorphosizes
Into metaphysics and accompanies,
Hand in hand,
As a metrical system.


Duane Locke

Posted over on The Hold