Some men love order. One
boards the bus at 6th and Chestnut each
afternoon at 3:07. Until the bus stops
at the train station, he walks

the aisle, shouting Turn off the music; No
gum chewing; No eating; No drinking.
Another, seated in the bus's last row, stands
in his place at 3:15, yells Can't you read

the sign (he points at the stenciled cardboard)?
Passengers must remain seated at all times. This
happens every day. At 3:18 they get off the bus, race
to catch the same 3:20 train. I imagine they are at it

again by 3:21. Theirs is collapsed wanting.
Certain nights I dream their faces, broken,
listing in the bus's back window.

_____

 

lowest note; list of solutions (as in: the Master used a);
the hold which plaster has on a wall;
a pin, bolt or wedge (as in: a cotter); a cardinal
point; vibrating steel tongues; spiritual authority
(as in the Bishop's or the Spiritual Power
of the); primary claw of a hawk's foot.

common in phrases and proverbs (such as: to the street; as cold as a; and book).

_____

 

Marigold custard: crush 1 cup of marigold petals; mix with salt, sugar, nutmeg. Scald 3 cups of milk with 2 vanilla beans and an egg yolk. Combine with dry ingredients. Cool before serving.

_____

 

The air in here suffers from suggestibility; it stinks
of rubbery skin. And what's left behind.

_____

 

My friend wanted to live in a kaleidoscope;
she painted every room in her house
a different color. The bathroom on the third floor,
battleship gray. This is what it means
to be in search of origins.

_____

 

Wives' Tales: Vinegar will dry
up all your blood (not true).
If you eat too many carrots
your skin will turn orange (True: palms
and the soles of feet).

_____

 

I served divorce papers to suited and severe men and women every Friday in July. I once chased a woman three blocks, waving her bulky envelope. Her red blazer flapped behind her like a cape. By block two I was gaining. She wasn't one of those pumps-in-handbag-gym-shoes-to-work types. She had no idea how to run. That was during the city's dry spell and hydrants were opened all over; they bubbled like picture-book fountains. Imagine that.

_____

 

black-canal. blue-ferry
route. yellow-rail-
road. green-bridge. red-snow
emergency. double
green-covered bridge.

_____

 

From a distance, a dead sheep and a dead deer
look about the same. If a sheep dies
when the ground is frozen, you can
haul it out to the highway, dump it,
drive off, and no one is any the wiser.

_____

 

I shine shoes on the busiest corner
in Philadelphia. I draw a circle on each
cheek with discarded apricot lipstick. My mother
has moved to a leaf-shaped island where storms lift

dogs and even cars right off the ground, plant
them, sometimes, miles away.

There's a gray leaf pressed
to the windshield. It's stuck
in the wiper blade whining
across the glass. Back, forth
back. They're calling for rain.

 

Copyright © Nancy Kuhl, 2004.