Someone does you wrong you give away your whole life to prove it
You wear your pain with pride, you refuse to remove it
You become the evil that plays with you like a doll
Big rules only make our lives small


Lisa Yuskavage, Night, 2000


From Michael Brownstein's "epic, visionary, kaleidoscopic treatise/poem" World on Fire (2002), which if you haven't yet read, you really should:

...Notice how language is used here, dear reader.

Why should protected lands be despoiled for at most six years
worth of energy?

Do you trust the phrase "environmentally friendly?"

Is there any connection between drilling for natural gas and
addressing the problem of power shortages?

How easy is it for you to spot the greed peeking out of every
paragraph?

Understand that Mr. Bush, his cronies, and many of his
appointees are the oil industry.

Realize that nowhere above is development of alternative energy
sources mentioned.

Consider that the energy crisis referred to might be minor, tem-
porary, or even intentional.

Glance at the calendar as you read this.

What's today's date?

How much of the above has already come to pass?

What other areas of potential profit have been approached in
similar fashion?


See Under:
-- by Joanna Rawson

There's a word for a beggar who fakes being blind.
Another for amnesia about all events underwater.
For the exact center of gravity in a skyscraper.
Without motive, a bullet whittled from ice
utters murder into a toddler's chest.
The sun makes a pool of water around her body
that will evaporate by noon, a shadow
advertising the precise time of death.
There's a word for a cannon fired from a camel's back.
Another for a rain gauge fueled by the sun.
For anything that lasts all night.
The rumor of a violent stormfront
keeps arriving,
but somewhere else.