Poem: Once More

 

Once More

 

to idolize the warmth

on the roof of my mouth,

while the rest of the body hides.

 

tea drains lukewarm,

thick down my throat,

softening a few feathered phrases,

while a tarantula of arthritis

captures and scratches

with pencil to bind.

 

a whole pot of earl  

passes through the urethra

before the writing is just okay. 

 

some of the words breathe, lissome,

nectarine with hope,

if not the verve of pleasure.

 

the caffeine and steam, once dead,

unparalyze a tense drama,

releasing the tarantula.

 

fingers quibble with tremors, then,

whether to screw the thermos lid,

or whether, like the brain,

it is drained of purpose,

any last semblance of passion gone--

empty

empty as a lake

that turned to sand

long before the very first mammal cried.

 

my eyes sizzle-fizzle from sleep,

zeros stacking zeros

under lids gone wild.

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6/24/24

11/16 removed "other" before "zeros" ... added some commas 

10/19/22  "softening" replaces "softened"