it’s a tool that
measures, but
it’s also a point
of reference. it’s
pointy and stick-
like. it’s not the
kind of stick you’d
like to lick, like,
say, a popsicle
stick or a fish
stick. it’s really
not something
you might act
ually use, like
a drumstick
(the ones used
on percussive
instruments
rather than
the leg of a
chicken) or a
matchstick,
because a
joke-stick
resides some
where within
my brain, or
whatever runs
what’s me.
which doesn’t
make it imagin
ary, exactly,
but something
half real and
half unreal, i’d
say, like a
ghost, perhaps,
or like hunger
or thirst or a
goal, maybe,
a bright idea.
