Michael Philips Poems

She wants me like the moon,
reliably present but distanced,
like something sacred
or beating nearby - an animal’s heart,
...

I.
Now I have seen everything.
The wake is going on right now from two to four
And it’s a quarter to three
...

The superstars unfurled
their laden routine – the organ
player stabbing his amplifiers
with daggers, the lead guitarist
...

I have this interpreter
grafted to my body,
He is inebriated and
conveys not me but a goon,
...

From above, the desk has a home
in a row of identical desks,
an old high school yearbook rests in the middle,
and a mechanical pencil.
...

I have a unified field theory too,
because I like the word “field”
with its grasses and wind in my hair.
...

This is how I want my life to end
Hooked up to a prison sentence
With the phone lines down
And machines treading water for me
...

I.
I haven’t spoken to my brother in ten years.
His brain was slammed in a car accident,
never got any therapy because dad didn’t believe in it.
...

I’m for the guys who
Install super-charged V-8 engines
In old Volkswagen beetles
And beat out the muscle cars at the light
...

In case of fire
Do not use elevators
dropp to your knees
And beg for forgiveness
...