Glen Armstrong
Edgar Rice Burroughs Leaving Chicago
He fell asleep:
he woke up elsewhere
Houses and hotels:
radio stations
Platforms and minarets:
cut from the light of the moon
Not the full story:
a partial lunar eclipse
He sipped tepid beer:
resisted temptation
The art deco buildings:
wind and wilco
I am dog sick:
gorilla sick
I cannot afford the lessons:
I cannot fly.
Rabbit Soup
The role of the sleeve
is to hide the rabbit.
The role of the gun
is to kill the rabbit.
The hunter ends up
wounding the magician
and ruining his doctored tuxedo.
The poet’s role
is to shine a spotlight on shapes
that seem familiar at first.
The rabbit’s role
is to conquer the world
one litter at a time.
I wouldn’t say that the role
of the poet’s spouse
is to wear nice clothes,
but it’s something for which the poet’s
spouse has a knack.
The knack’s role
is to establish a natural flow.
Sometimes, I think
that the poet’s spouse is a miracle,
flowing from the sleeves
of a miraculous shirt.
The role of the shirt is dual:
concealing and revealing.
The holster’s role is similar,
as is the rabbit’s nest.
Sometimes, I think of the big bang
as a hole
out of which the universe popped.
Sometimes, I think
of the big bang as wearing
a shirt of imported silk
and brandishing
a Smith & Wesson 686.
I am that which I make.
I appear. I weave. I threaten.
Sometimes, I think
of my tuxedo as having a secret
(not a very well-kept secret)
compartment that conceals
a frightened old poet.
Someone put me here
and my spouse reached in
to pull me out.
The role of an out
is to politely transport the expected
elsewhere.
The role of elsewhere
is to allow dreams to ferment.
The hunter comes across a still
in the woods and trades,
perhaps, two rabbits for a small flask
of moonshine.
I am glad for every shot not taken,
but that’s just a personal preference.
Moonshine’s role
is to make everywhere seem like elsewhere.
Glen Armstrong (he/him) holds an MFA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and edits a poetry journal called Cruel Garters. His latest book is Night School: Selected Early Poems. Find him on Facebook.
