THOUGHTS AFTER “THE AWAKENING”

copy of Chopin from a little library]
maybe dogeared from “Morris”
on the spine—teacher or student
or cat—long slow freedom of heat
pouring
& the boulevard's obelisks
gleam & await massed hands
to oil them—monumental sex
in a handbasket the way to hell
according to gray grandmothers
gliding without feet behind all us
couples
making sure the only singing is
cicadas
while the black & whites police
the perimeter trying to keep
the seeds
drifting on the damn wind
out of godknowswhere-
ville, like flies or ideas,
from getting comfort-
able here

Ed Taylor (he, him, his) is the author of the novel Theo, the poetry collection Idiogest, and the chapbooks Cardinal Directions, The Rubaiyat of Hazmat, and The Plane Comes Down in a Vacant Lot (forthcoming). His poetry and prose have appeared in a variety of U.S. and U.K. periodicals and anthologies, and his most recent dance/spoken word/theater work is “Black Nikes” (Alleyway Theater, fall 2020). His Instagram is @toothlessmurgatroyd.