Last month when Jasper Magazine conducted its First Annual Pint and Poem Walk, a few folks asked for a copy of this poem, so here it is for those who asked (and those who didn't.) It's an amusing, odd piece I wrote under the influence of pain medicine after my eardrum ruptured. I was deaf in that ear for nearly a month. Anyway, here goes: horizontal hold
narcotics kill the pain
my mind a barren pool rusty ladder descends into earth and weeds
three lesbians gather wood together they build a Frank Lloyd Wright doghouse
monogamy -- monotony one of them is cheating on her husband
i have weird dreams of my dead father a fire engine Leonard Nimoy and a 19 percent raise
my carpet is the state fair for roaches city pigeons die quietly on my windowsill heads folded neatly into wings
loose audio tape lies in a tangled pile at my feet
i am openly seduced glistening nude in hues of violet by a body without a face
amplified pounding in my head clock ticking blood pumping machine-driven raucous vacuum
find me, bring me down where I can feel again
my antenna flails in the wind please slide on a tennis ball and help ride me of all this static
-- Kristine Hartvigsen
