November 19, 2024

Note: This week’s poem was assembled out of fragments of headlines in today’s New York Times. My one (self-imposed) rule: none of the headlines I used could be connected to any articles about politics.

below the fold

Let’s start with the dark circles under my eyes, or the 22 people 
who got stuck on the pinwheel ride in California. Had they taken 
their magnesium supplements, or wondered which Thanksgiving sides 
they’d bring to this year’s table? Around us, so many singing robots 
and air fryers and reality shows; it’s hard to imagine how a saber-toothed 
kitten could emerge from Siberia or the differences in Swedish dishcloths. 
Nevertheless, magicians have solved a decades-old deception, not to mention
the world cup return of green tea. And let’s not forget the exercises for thinking 
about Beethoven and that even the best golfers lose their mojo. Change
is not a romance comic—especially in this climate. So courage, friend,
Keep falling in love. The future is not a cutting board, but a common thread.