Leslie Kleinberg
lkleinberg@hotmail.com

2:46 AM August 29

to the kissed and unkissed of this world
i will not write a poem.
yasmine's elderly grandmother
inquires several times in several minutes
rattlesnakes, sweet cactus leaves
thorny calling cards. theories on
why I have no boy.
Yasmine's sweet grandma inquires again
what's wrong
with me, or with the boys i ask,
quip rather, would rather
wonder now what's wrong with them
and their uncertainties and backpedaling.
a broken bicycle, no one's a rowboat
where is the plumber goddamn the
spiders hook and ladder
buttonhooks and crooked pinky fingers
cured by operation
a simple intervention
mother in law convention
 

12 PM August 29

art of rotating gears
spin the wheel of berries
i found out from the course catalog
i was to TA the class
Japanese ink brush painting
by numbers by wheels of chance
teacher demonstrating on giant sliding
whiteboards a wizard a dragon
students at desks passing
notes and nachos.
on the network of wheels at the
head of the class, bottles selected
for packaging. A can of V-8.
the phones went dead and
indicator lights flashed yellow
as I made the dub.