PALINODE

In the age of malformed tools

I was mistaken to think I was a man.

Would a man lope beside the loping river.

Would a man shatter the neck of a chicken just to see

If he could perceive the honesty of its death. Would a man know

How dearly torches look like eyes as they float above the river.

Would a man become hollow with wishes. Would a man lie in pieces

In the garret of a dead building. Would a man leave hands of clay on

Everything he loves. Would a man bear terror like a fine coat.

Would a man never have had anything to bruise. Would a man be

Without anything between his legs. Would a man try

To fill that absence by sinking into his earth

A cherry switch, unlit candle,

A crescent of dead bees.

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HIBERNATION

The most famous hibernators are Bears (see: The Bear). Many will be familiar

With the sight of a bear wrestling with incredulity. This bear is often accompanied

By smaller bears, just as a man is often accompanied by smaller men who bear

His phobias to the public sphere. This sphere is bright and vacant, and to escape it,

A man must gather up his emissaries and climb into a winter maw. There, he can

And will cover himself with soft roots and leaves, and sleep for a season. The season

That passes is one of degradation. There is no human need to record it. The word

Hibernation could mean winter-state. But when hibernating, sleep means very

Different things for a man and a bear. A bear actually sleeps, and will not rouse itself                                                                 

To eat or rid itself of waste. A man will sleep, but a man may also debase himself.

A bear will stop just through the gates of sleep. A man will not. A man

Will seek something deeper. A man will take hibernation as his

Crest. A man will wear this helmet into the ground.

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These poems are from the forthcoming chapbook, There is another poem, in which the news is erased and rewritten, published this December by New Michigan Press.