Ash (poem)
Ash
You were bound to burn out your time
that short fuse not adequate to the role
of guiding light, beacon on a hill
Steady star by lost at sea to navigate
More the fuming little stick
of dynamite laid like landmines, planned things
ran afoul of the implacable hour
You had, like all of us, to pick and choose
Let’s sift through what you picked
Let’s word associate, let’s play
Deluxe, the one with proper nouns
A sense of character, to start this round
A living face, from which to come
the statement prejudiced
maybe it’s yours needs taking
that you swallow information
that I state in understatement
has been sourced not unreliably…so much
as made up whole, from motive undisguised
Lost at Sea: (conversational) A friendly
observation about anything, to anyone
Little Stick: I was told by Popeye to expect this
Lost at Sea: You don’t make sense
Little Stick: Did some object make a noise?
Ash
To Terms
Amulet
(2020, Stephanie Foster)