Revision (thanks Chris)
Outside Room 7
Whenever my Siamese cat tells me you're cheating
again, this headache becomes an icicle
shattering on stone.
It's crazy to think that cats can talk, or even purr,
when it's clearly the buzz
of implanted transmitters.
Our secrets pad down moonlit paths,
slip underneath roof shadows.
It told me where to find the bullet
pristine, like it had never been fired.
Oswald acted alone. But I knew that
already: some moments are too intimate
to share, though, they do require preparation.
I chew on small squares of tinfoil to create interference.
The electrochemical current causes saliva
to react with my fillings,
so that I can become mercury vapor
drifting invisibly beneath the window
of the roadside motel you visit every Thursday.
You might see my reflected smile
as you apply lipstick,
or you might miss the obvious.
Outside Room 7
Whenever my Siamese cat tells me you're cheating
again, this headache becomes an icicle
shattering on stone.
It's crazy to think that cats can talk, or even purr,
when it's clearly the buzz
of implanted transmitters.
Our secrets pad down moonlit paths,
slip underneath roof shadows.
It told me where to find the bullet
pristine, like it had never been fired.
Oswald acted alone. But I knew that
already: some moments are too intimate
to share, though, they do require preparation.
I chew on small squares of tinfoil to create interference.
The electrochemical current causes saliva
to react with my fillings,
so that I can become mercury vapor
drifting invisibly beneath the window
of the roadside motel you visit every Thursday.
You might see my reflected smile
as you apply lipstick,
or you might miss the obvious.
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson

