REST ASSURED YOU WILL RUN OUT OF TIME
it is difficult to stay tethered
ARE YOU SIMPLY GOING TO LET CENTURIES GO TILL
practicing the form is mastered
TIME ROGUISHLY SALTS THE SOUP
the outcome
WELL, INEDIBLE
but the apples in the disappearing fields
WHOSE ELONGATED SHADOWS ARE NOW METAL SCULPTURES
are hanging in Brussels
YOU KNEW IT WOULD BE ROMANTIC BUT NOT THIS ROMANTIC
it is getting worse as it gets better
THE GODDAMN KNOW-HOW IS ALL THERE IS TO IT
I think you accompanied these better times ironically
AFTER ALL YOU HAD WAITED TOO LONG
and too forlornly for it
FIELDS WERE WHERE THE ACKNOWLEDGING WAS RE-ECHOED
some think a good acknowledging is the make-up of the landscape
AND NOT JUST A PIROUETTED TURN OF FANCY
it isn’t all a bluff either, for once you are
OUTWITTING YOURSELF
it seems the plain indecision was the needed touch
THE SWAMP IS ALRIGHT, BUT THE GROUND IS
the dreamed attention
YOU LOSE IMPETUS WITH LAUGHINGLY SHIMMERING VORTICES
it is time to take one by one
EVERYONE TO THE MAGIC SHOW
your magician pockets deep
YOUR MAGICIAN HANDS QUICK
your hat stores the only trick
YOU EVER NEEDED TO MAKE THIS WORK
but among those in November, you were this no more
JUST OLD AND AWARE ON BEHALF OF ALL OF US
me, I was at the bar drinking sours
AND THOUGHT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOU SHOULD
put a gown on and come over
OUR DARK BROWN HAIRS IN FRONDS
at least in time we will know that this explains our
BESOTTED RELATIONSHIP TO TIME
our secret, you ask
WELL, BEING RIVEN IS EVIDENCE
(though piddling), that we could love all
THAT OTHERS MAY MISTAKE FOR HEARTFELT
though the bottle in the middle is turning
WHICH TWO PEOPLE CAN IT POINT AT
me and only me
MY LACK OF ATTENTION IS EVISCERATING MY LIFE
I can only see it one way, not the other way
THE FOREGROUND SHATTERS
can you believe I haven’t been ill once
I HAD ENOUGH TO FLARE AN OVER-VALUED SOLITARY TIME
it must have been pouring out of my patches
YOU WERE SO SURE THAT THE TELLING LIPS WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GET TO YOU
did I forget to apply pressure, or change the lock
THE SKUNKS OF TIME, OR TO BREAK THE VELVET
with those taking up the cudgels
I AM IN
I am all-in with my sappy life
ON THE BENCH EVERY DAY I
enjoy having salt to sprinkle on every gash
ADDING INSULT TO THE INJURY
but what else is really there
AS LONG AS WE ARE UNREASONABLE TO ONE ANOTHER
but as long as it may eventually be repaired
THEN AGREEMENT ISN’T WHAT WE LOOK FOR
it is about an unusable plan
A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF MYSTERY
wasted on the mysterious
AN ALLEGORICAL HUNT FOR
something infinitesimally trivial
THE ROADS THAT CROSS OVER EACH OTHER
I am not out of breath
I JUST WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAVE A BODY
if it feels like I’m open for suggestions you are fooling yourself
GO
but go greatly
ON EARTH MY TIME IS JUST A SHORT UPWARD SPIRAL
the malevolent forest at the edge of a coal mine, my definition of the behemoth
OR AT LEAST THE MORE HONEST VERSION
for who else can we play this oboe then
SMEARING TAR ON YOUR FACE, “I LOVED THAT FILM”
I overheard you say for a film I know you’ve never watched
MY LOVE IS AN OBLIQUE ATTACK, HARMFUL BUT INDIRECT
easily ignorable in any case
A SCRATCH ON THE GLASS OF THE TIMEKEEPER
sidling up when you least expect it
IN SEARCH FOR A KNOWING NOD OR
at the very least a fucking cookie
BRIGHTLY, SINGLE-MINDEDLY
all you love is the flooring euphoria that comes with a flush
SO MUCH SO THAT YOU ARE ALMOST ALWAYS WILLING TO BEAR THE SHAME
I know you
BORN 2 WUTHER
how did this all get brought up
NOT AGAIN THIS BREATHLESS STREAM
can we start over and recast the entire ensemble
AND CAST THIS ONE HERE TO ONLY SAY
“petals are corollas”, over and over
INFORMING US OF SYNONYMS
because that’s what’s important
“SEPALS ARE CALYX”
“ovules are egg cells”
ON AND ON
text by artun alaska arasli