Tuesday, December 06, 2022

mmmdccxciii

Finding the Most Appropriate Word or Phrase

the grouse that was woodsy has a hoodie from
poughkeepsie, but the chirpy mouse has no idea

how to spell it, much less pronounce it.  “just say
it, then.”  he heard everyone say on his birthday.

he was prophetic like that.  it wasn’t his fault, or
it could have been, but it was certainly not a thing

that he had asked for.  “watch the door,” said the
bird in the morgue next to the fjord.  once he knew

the glacier within which he’d finally find his glasses,
with his head askance he knew in a glance that with or

without such elaborate hall passes, his ass was grass
(and much the same size of at least half of texas).

he coughed as he laughed and he laughed as he
coughed while spending the evening in search of

the grouse, who it’s true, was his spouse.  but hush
about that.  such things cannot be undone (like the

fact that whenever he’d look back at this moment
the word that he found that he always was mouthing

in some sort of odd kind of motor memory would
now and always at such misbegotten times as these

be grouch.  “i heard that,” said marvin arranging the
bed.  “did he just say irving berlin had a thing for...?”

and then all he’d hear from then on out was missus
gazpacho
.  and so for the rest of the day, almost as though

punishment for having such a lousy memory, he’d put
the kibosh and quite lickety-split on his finding more words

that were rhyming (and shit).  he calmed himself down
and looked under the newlywed’s bed for whatever it

was that was lost and as of yet unremembered.  he
had no idea that it was something so unremarkable

that it’d never be remembered.  it had never before
worked quite like that.  but perhaps this was one

of those days that were spoken of as if omnipresently
toward the next bright horizon.  the sky was not bright,

though, instead a dark purple.  oh, well, he though dourly,
that’s just the way the cookie must certainly crumble.

he racked his mind, the thought could it
ve been barwin,
perhaps?  or charmin?  or it might have been darwin?

but really he had no idea.  and so right at the top
of the brain did thought, from there on after, keep

popping back up.  it was so unattractive.  but this
would not dawn on him until way later.  for now

he knew only just that his gummy head couldn’t
possibly think, and wouldn
’t for quite some time

from the way things were feeling.  there once was
a man in my parlor.  all the phrases and words he

could think of that rhymed with parlor were: caller.
katie bar the door.  palaver.  and bar harbor.  a place

that, as he recalled (or was it if he recalled), was filled
with docked seamen.  “oh, it’s you my dear friend,

good grief, you numbskull, come stand on your tiptoes.”
and that’s when it suddenly came to him that it had

always and actually been doctor havarfor.  so up he got
and and in two shakes he was out.  and i’m more than

just certain that you
ll believe me when i add but
this one simple fact to this longwinded story: that

he’s never not once since then ever dropped by, i
mean zilcho from all the way back then until now.

calls for poetry to save the world