the rix mix

slept late
read newspaper in Dunkin' Donuts
nothing important

changed airfilter on car
Anne came outside
we sat in hot sunlight on grass
pink undies beneath her shorts
I stared at her legs
we complimented each other's green tomatoes
her little pumpkins
my lettuce

watched Mount St. Helen tv show
explosion with nuclear neck & hat
dust & gases blown into stratosphere
great sunsets in Montana

later, ants digging themselves out
microrganisms growing stagnant soup
"That sure smells," said an entomologist
to a microbiologist. He coptered up
for the bugs, not the stinking fumeroles

a banzai in my bathroom
tiny pinecones my desire

for dessert, a mouse running through a diner
the waitress didn't see it
even when I stood up & pointed
two customers walked out
I ordered cheesecake & coffee

(1981)
Editors of little magazines liked my poems about nothing, publishing them alongside important poems about something.

Labels: poem