Dorchester, MA

Fog straits chocolate anticipation
—who called?
—My partially visible house
—Tell them to go away
An ocean liner in a drainage ditch
Poem  carrier
As if poetry could be forgotten that easily
      Otherwise
Ah but once it was. And you were there.
And your parents. And the dockworkers
Were striking, and your parents wouldn't cross
The picket line so you only used
The words this side of the line.

Hydrogen symphony performed free
You see, so you can listen any day
In the Museum of You Almost Recognize This Object
Where the benches are hard and cup-handled
And there is no lemon tea available
On any day.  Guest, I'm sorry you bought
Your ticket before we talked. I could have
Told you what was in it and how sad
—a sadness hidden under their bristling anger—
Are the museum guards

It wasn't cherry but Canada
And the consistency of childishness
That makes we want to take
And take all the given and
Your hands, too, both your hands.

How did it come to pass
That I was the one who had to explain
Subway system did not mean
Submarine system?