Appendix A: Irregular Objects
 

Windowsill:                  Interior cliff
                                     where dust gathers thought,
                                     the leaning forearm left at the altar,
                                     the hand outstretched for the technicolor bird.

Bed:                              Horizon, collapsed.

Vanity:                          Face theater.

French Dictionary:        Curious encounters with an amorous cousin.

Hook on the Door:       Discarded evening,
                                     the image retired
                                     to dangle in purgatory,
                                     a kimono, a gown.

Bed Sheets:                   Waves over women
                                     beached on the shores of consciousness.

Brassiere:                      The old lace fence,
                                     weathered by trespassers,
                                     a look at the valley
                                     on the eve of a dark spring.

Wall:                             Blank page,
                                     dreamed to brick.

Overturned Chair:       Catastrophe still life.

Drawers:                       Eyelashes,
                                     matted with secret clutter.
                                     The coffin erupts with a fool’s paraphernalia,
                                     the daisy spouting ink,
                                     the snake in the jar.

Mirror:                         Small toxic lake
                                     the face drowns in.

Exit:                             The entrance, revisited,
                                     a gash in the skin.

Pillow:                          Cloud passing, shot down.

Torn Shirt:                    Portal into next dimension
                                     of person before you;
                                     a patch of exposed brick.

Empty Shoes:                Abandoned ship,
                                     steps lost to sea.

The Open Window:     The dreamer’s guillotine
                                     poised before us,
                                     the heads
                                     we have
                                     lost
                                     chasing ribbons
                                     of smoke.