THREE POEMS BY kari edwards


small, naked and crouched


death names keep tabulation. I think water, the rivers and night skies - obedient clusters, a
labor force, or a glass of milk in a shade. empty now or gone, these days shift under the roof
full of whispers that break on the ground. block-by-block consumed in a dream like an
arena of derelict flames and slaughter. all day takes years. I question zeno’s pitch . . . an
endless race for the scared with nodding head rear-seat animals. on my knees in homeless
hiroshima and oil drenched ebb tides, bombing runs begin in choking words and fly-by-
night inconsistencies. the ground has a seizure, I dream of fear and steady your hand.


what should we do?

to the very few
     or none of us or them

             all dead or dying

beyond beyond like never never “________”
     and strike the cyclorama
             dumb distant memory

left sinking a spiral jetty saying
     "its better to lay in the backe
             than brave the sewers"

built with similes
of kitsch and blameless action figures
                     the predictions
     blame the renaissance
             and advances the forces

replied erotic intent
   insert square times
             with instruction booklets

& prepare for large sheets of perplexed motion


forever hidden

the disposition must be depressed, thematically chiseled in the borderline - of a broader in-
between, slightly more complicated than “food for thought” or an essay on love, which
never fails to daze. anyways, the clouds drift away, everyone was buying the new
mysterious feeling, or ordering better top soil.

born in a hospital to cubism and home improvement, fresh starts appear on the spot. even
fresh starts have their own luck of the draw, and they are winners every time. time itself
has a complete make over. after intensive study and a familiar state, incoherent ideas form
and are immediately dislodged. old songs are added to the next station, polyester is a
shining trout again. dead batteries could be exchanged for new ones. certain
neighborhoods seemed to disappear off the map, along with certain faces. eyes glaze over,
and ceiling fans are invented. and then for no apparent reason there was no more side
effects, just periodic tables and regular associations.


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