Goddamn that's cute as fuck. Two little painted mailbox ducks surrounded by cattails and flowers, standing there for endless hours, waiting for new mail delivery to feed their written word omnivory.
99
98
Sitting sideways going forward northward on the train, waiting, watching platforms pass, ensconced in plastic, steel, and glass, two passengers in cabin class, not underclass, who under-pass paths slowly cast past low landmass, at last borne fast through hewn terrain, arriving soon to new domain.
And as they surf the dark they catch a splash of light, a rhythmic pulsing spark, like capturing a sprite.
Amber lanterns fly past, flashing in the tunnels, faeries dashing pole to pole, like fireflies trapped in steel, they hypnotize captive souls, they captivate boxed-in riders, congregate in fleeting dance, they pass the day in shadow, then, they flit away.
[Amber lanterns fly past,] [flashing in the tunnels,] [faeries dashing pole to pole,] [like fireflies trapped in steel,] [they hypnotize captive souls,] [they captivate boxed-in riders,] [congregate in fleeting dance,] [they pass the day in shadow,] [then, they flit away.]
97
All day lain still in relaxed dream, the window sill, the gold sunbeam, the dad and daughter passing by who catch his barely-opened eye, the twitch, the chirp, the blink, the yawn, the big stretch, toes like little prawns, to sit up squinting at the street, as people pass in summer's heat.
And every day the little cat sits down to write a letter. And every day he gets one back becomes a little better.
"The sun today," with pen he writes, "came in the window warm and bright and bathed my fur with glowing light. I think I'll sleep quite well tonight."
And now he waits for your reply, dear niece.
96
This bird chirps. And that bird chirps. What do you think they chirp about? I hear the chirping down the street. Are chirps a whisper or a shout?
That is to say, the little bird, is reaching distant blocks its goal? Or does it wish to speak unheard but hasn't got volume control?
People will call the cries all trysts for bagging bad bodacious babes, but maybe birds are scientists proudly discussing astrolabes.
Or maybe they're comedians projecting jokes so all can hear, and all the other birds are laughing "Tell the one about Shakespeare!"
And what if a bird teacher is lecturing its class of scattered chirping bird students on properties of mass? That objects have inertia keeping them in place and gravitational attraction bending time and space.
The birds could all be picketing in protest for fair wages for all the birds we catch and breed and keep inside birdcages.
And suddenly and noisily a truck turns down the street and every single chatty chirp turns into tricksy tweet.
They know that we are watching, waiting, wondering of what their bouncy bellowed babbling belies inside them, but the secrets in their speeches spoken stridently are still intended only for their friends awakened with free will.
So when we've penetrated near enough to generate translation they hide their voice behind masks of pretend inarticulation.
Joke's on them, though, we can't tell the difference between speaking well and alarm bell and raising hell and incoherent shouting spell.
Yes, all the chirps and tweets and caws of birds with feathers, beaks, and claws sound just the same to human ears, and all that any of us hears is tune with textures, tones, and tiers of songliness, no rhyme or cause.
And so these little chirping birds with wary watchful eyes are all the while wasting words on linguistic disguise.
95
The promise of biotechnology, a spiraling vision for all to see, in stark opposition to moral decision, could be to abet an atrocity.
Across the lot standing stonefaced, an untitled woman encased in black and white flowers for fighting the powers that would see her skin tone erased.
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These poems are Avi's diary. You can email him at avi@invariablyhappy.com