CLAUDIA K. GRINNELL

A Fighting Chance to Be Lucky

If it’s not super-termites, or sharks, avian
Flu, vanishing white women, nuclear arms, smokeless
Tobacco, the pole caps, the Poles in general, then this
Clearly isn’t the time to leave the lights on, most all
Cave exploration got cancelled. I’m barely interested
In anything more than an inch under dirt. I don’t want to know.
If I did, I would tell, I swear/affirm by any some
Or no thing, I would. And where would that get us. Back

To the start: just say it. The game is rigged. Someone’s
Got the magnet so close to the signal you’d think they had
The hots for each other – front page news
Some years back. Someone got fired or let go or downsized
To struggle with important family business, in any case,
He was, as we should be able to say, toast, buttered
Side smearing the cloth. It was raining nails. Or cats and dogs
Without tails. I’m not clear on the details. But I wrote it all down,

Or I will one of these days. Sometimes you have to
Throw the light on the subject slanted, turn the wheel slowly
To a different angle. Sometimes, the flaw isn’t readily
Apparent. Sometimes a strategic call to a higher authority
Is helpful. Sometimes not. No matter what the store has in mind
For a fair price, it’s more about getting the biggest bang from the next
So-called expert on the subject. They don’t advertise much,
And that immediately draws suspicion. Our entire clan is infected.

That's What I'm Talking About

Most of the stuff belongs to the majority, moral
And otherwise. It does not need fixing. It is quoted every minute
The market is open. Natural bread and other comestibles
Need fabric the same way stones might need a bottom. Myth
Stood still, stood and saluted, hat in hand and hand over heart,
Knee-deep in new snow or sandy beaches or rivers too wide
To cross. This we refer to as innocence abandoned. Its defiance

Put forth its own good, which I’m not saying is defensible, ever
Since being deceptive in the process. Several bleak years – light
Years, as we understand the concept now – structural anomalies – we dizzy
Yet – essentially vanished. Zero calories on the scale, degradable
Puppy visions (moving back and forth, pathways trailing behind),
At least we still have that. And stricter regulations in an effort to oppose
Production: fantasy and myth, living, happy. Ever. After.

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