They Lend Themselves Better to Prose

They lend themselves better
to prose, the ones I know,

but that’s not what I do.
They are too lovely

and full of detail, too
complicated,

past description, really,
for this scale.

I would give you
500 pages as a start,

if I were a Russian,
and then go on from there,

but that’s not what I do.
Please don’t blame

Drs. Slaughter and Levine.
They kept their office hours

and let me stare
at their bookshelves

and taught and taught
until the only

sensible thing to do
was retire.

You have to prepare yourself
for what it is about her

that drives you to render
each tender encounter well,

having no idea in advance
or even afterwards…

If it’s all guesswork,
and it is,

guess well, then
start another,

guess again, and beautifully
again.

That’s what cummings
would say if he were here.

Go on forever.
Call it a career.

–July 23, 2016