Reading “A Lover’s Discourse” for the first time zwischen den Jahren

Which means “between the years”—how Germans refer to the period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve

Me last Monday, which has nothing to do with my new poem!

Humiliating, like

Believing a loaf of bread could last forever.

Perfect order.

Telling everyone about it too, convinced.

Pasta sauce made a miracle

Just onions and tomato,

Lazy, braised.

I am afraid to approach these images again

and also

Know that their possibility is essential.

Fish from the market, but it is closed.

So chicken, coriander. Pick up a bottle of white. Remember the object's stature.

Their indignities, yours.

"I am, intermittently, unfaithful.

This is the condition of my survival;

for if I did not forget, I should die."

Think about indigestion every time. Dry heaving.

Put smelly, daily things into the frame.

Put loose, runny eggs into a mold and fry until set.

Do this every day until the utterances

Yearning

Wailing

Grow

Quiet