by Bernadette Mayer

Does every flower mean a fruit ?
if so, the ones near the well will
make more than my annual handful
If I were organized and fastidious
I’d tie a red string to every flower so
I’d know and could brag that a naked plant
Fed me a good dessert

by Bernadette Mayer

you are an unending
decimal — you see ?

no matter how many
b & w paramount movies you see
that are risqué
things will come in
to sweep & vacuum-clean
everywhere
even under the table
cleaning by
a decimal animal
whenever you don’t
notice
please let us
stand on a chair
to
give a speech
each of your hairs
says
I am within
the realm
of figuring       out
how everybody twinkles
                                                on this day
                                                                  like clouds
thru icicles
ground covered
with snow
how could this be ?
how many pies
can we eat ?

birthday is pi-day, yay
“you have the pi-day powers”

you know    it’s showering
icicles & drops
everything
on
everybody

by Elinor Nauen

When the war came at last
we were too old to fight.
We could only wait behind locked doors
for the enemy to burst in.
We slipped out at dawn to beg.
We ran to the river to see
the soldiers in their masks.
Were they smiling ?
Did they see us ?  Failure
left us vulnerable.  Our successes
left us.  We wanted the past
to beam on our careless beauty.
We had nothing to give
as cannon fodder, numbers, gurneys.
No one wanted what we didn’t have.
We slept & woke as old people do.
We slept until we were young.

by Elinor Nauen

How’d you get thrown
out of so many laundromats ? she asked
as though that were an accomplishment

they think
I’m not serious
because I’m not in debt

here in the nabe we live
the lives we choose
that’s why we live here

I was the meanest girl in Sioux Falls & I’m the nicest girl in
New York
which is only
the difference between my two hometowns

men think friendliness = desire
men think not saying anything is the same as telling you
something
men think not telling you anything is the same as saying
something

he’s a happy
man
but I can make him happier

New York Is Missing
But I’m
here.