On the fringe of branches and satisfied ego planks

[Doreen Peri]

You can comb the fringe
of a carpet, lie flat on its surface
flying to oriental bliss, solitude
a destination, trade your dignity
for an insistent ego trip, rip up
floors to find treasure behind
the planks, but once you begin
raking lizards from the ranks
of branches, you've gone,
most likely,
too far.

How much is enough?
When will you be satisfied?

Stars are superflous beings.
They emit gas and filtered light.

Do not circle around circumferences
in a flight-pattern guess. Do not
comb the fringe of antiquity....

It's a waste of time
and doesn't become you.

Instead, be
Thoreau below
the branch,
lying prone
while currents
dare air
with
invalid
news.

This is enough.

[Lightning Rod]

I've been putting out fires all day
one thing after another and my hose isn't long enough
it feels like raking lizards on benzedrine Walden gone wild
with insomnia and trimming my mustache just so
everything has to be just so
just so
when you are trimming your mustache
or raking lizards.
Where's the next fire?