wieldy

Or An Aberration, Twice Underlined

by Maurice Oliver



But memory

can talk like a pen

in lamplight or ink or a desire

that no one can steal 

or disappear like rings of smoke

in bought tobacco or Cd's scotch

so goes the course of moms & dads

or willows weeping little

over plants or animals

or all the need of annihilation

beside that of vision

memory cradles us in her arms

or just a wet sleeve in the rain

far cheaper by the loaf

the shepherd the weaver the loom

or an apple tree in the courtyard

much too enormous to fathom

it pushes through the thick head

of willfulness as lights go out

or down rickety stairs

into rain sleet hail fogging

the eyes of yes   or ringing

the doorbell   off & on