Claudia KeelanAu Revoir
Something happened to time Or something happened to the mind In time in the months Of the 1st year after The 20th century ended Never before had the present Filled so with the past's Immediate and enormous Body Everything said Which was meant to be said now Was a mistake Now was over really & though We'd expected it to be over Years and years before Here we were There, the future oh my Inside its elephant alphabet
MakerHaze in the wheel Sun in the spokes Pulled the bad horse backwards Pulled the wings from my side Haze in the wheel Sun on the surface spokes Pulled your wings from my side Knew obedience Feet kept dragging on the earth Pulled the wings From the shiny wheel Feathers in the spokes Pulled the bad horse backwards Untethered disobedience Haze in the wheel Sun in the spokes
AntiqueShe bought the teapot because it was broken & broken still valuable, A thing not available to her otherwise. On its restored surface a pastoral Flickered once. Too late. She was not honest but she was a poet Mending the broken valuable . . . "What absolute nonsense!" cried the Earthworm. "Nothing Is ever all right in the end and well you know it." Poor Earthworm, Ladybug whispered, Loving all that is disaster Bellydown breathing with it everafter.
Freely AdaptedIn the future There were blackouts Pell mell, randonnée on the beach And in the bay The last woman a remaining aunt Helter skelter affiche And other follies Along the way Perpetually beginning Past afraid Heh heh over the wire The sun rises inside a cry Pell mell, randonnée Helter skelter Hey Hey Bled my gift into the now To student citizen's shining paws Lost the power to withdraw Endless in change Controlled hysteria Earthly fires Bequeathed To tradition at last
Claudia Keelan's third collection of poetry, Utopic, won the Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books. She is the editor of Interim and lives in Las Vegas.
