Made acceptance speeches, repelled
the Nazi scourge, had sex with lesbians,
convinced parents to keep the dog (age six),
visualized tomatoes ripening, saw her
for the first time again, present at Dieppe,
shouted, “Help is coming, hold on!” plea-
bargained, filibustered, sneered
at Kitty Hawk. Lay on my back and
was an oyster at Leucate Plage, signed
that kid’s cast, watched the car
hit someone else’s child in Berga,
opened the envelope, gave
the eulogy (whole room wept), remembered
the lost perogy recipe that called
for cottage cheese. Turned over again—
smear of the red-numbered clock—
designed book covers, got in under a left
and put Chuck Liddell down, caught
bullfrogs in the muck at the edge
of Pine Lake, brought back the smell of
blueberry buns from the Open Window Bakery,
drove the narrowing roads north, held
in my hand the tight head
of a milkweed pod and peeled it back
and back into whiteness
until there was nothing.