If I could do anything
I would
write another book
a story in small pieces
that fit mysteriously
together
another serial novel
called something like
Bad Publicity or Justifiable
maybe with a dead body
(the publicist who couldn’t help)
play piano
write at least one song
invite a stranger to dinner
every single week
even in February
call my friend Laura
in a nursing home in Michigan
every Thursday morning
she is a wonderful talker
forget about what I can’t do
take some more trips
to anywhere including
Namibia and Grand Forks North Dakota
write a play even though
Maria Fornes told me
so many years ago that I
should never write a play again
write long hand letters
twice a week to everyone
especially people
who read these poems
(and send me their address)
keep Overhearing
Woman on the adjacent patio
we are in Ocean Grove
just said to the man she’s with:
You won’t believe this.
My favorite sentence.
And use a fountain pen with ink from a bottle as God intended. It will help.
You won't believe this.
How can you not bend forward to catch what comes next?