I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,
...
When music is far enough away
the eyelid does not often move
and objects are still as lavender
...
Am I to become profligate as if I were a blonde? Or religious
as if I were French?
Each time my heart is broken it makes me feel more adventurous
...
If I rest for a moment near The Equestrian
pausing for a liver sausage sandwich in the Mayflower Shoppe,
that angel seems to be leading the horse into Bergdorf's
and I am naked as a table cloth, my nerves humming.
...
So we are taking off our masks, are we, and keeping
our mouths shut? as if we'd been pierced by a glance!
The song of an old cow is not more full of judgment
...
My quietness has a man in it, he is transparent
and he carries me quietly, like a gondola, through the streets.
He has several likenesses, like stars and years, like numerals.
...
When I was a child
I played by myself in a
corner of the schoolyard
all alone.
...
I've got to tell you
how I love you always
I think of it on grey
mornings with death
...
It's my lunch hour, so I go
for a walk among the hum-colored
cabs. First, down the sidewalk
where laborers feed their dirty
...