Artwork courtesy Tex Fontanella and John M. Bennett
Divided Hearts Call for Arms
Categorization—where do we draw the line?
Between the haves and the have-nots,
those with the loud mouths
and those with the loud ears.
Or perhaps we’ll draw the line between
two specks of sand in a field somewhere.
We’ll draw it and call it the state.
In the waiting room for a drug testing center
we’ll hear stories about broken windows
and about all the restraining orders.
So very many restraining orders.
And I, with my shotgun heart, on about the peoples.
They’ve got their cars and their mobile phones.
They’ve got all of their isms.
And then the man with the tobacco lips will shout.
He’ll say: “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”
Yes! You’re damn right I do!
My nervous system’s got the best of me.
Oh, how all this index has got the best of me.
And how I hope to collect myself, to regain myself.
What my hope’s for is slow thrills.
So I’ll spend two weeks with the anarchists.
And now I can scream even louder.
But that’s the prevailing theme of normalcy,
that we love to catalog so dearly.
We want to talk about it. We want to identify with it.
So here’s to the ones in teal sweaters
who just can’t quite put a finger on it.
They’ve got their books and their inquisitive eyes.
They’ve got all their isms.
Just don’t dare call them elusive.
Innumerable Stumble 