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LIKE AN OIL SLICK ON FIRE

When you run into an old crony, you might say
you could go for a burger with fries. As for longing,
what’s a cheek to make of another cheek? What I
heard was “Cannonball!”

~

The firm handed an attaboy to Mr. Fluke, who never
stopped trading after the bottom dropped out. Fate
precedes pretext, if you know what I mean. As for
sensory deprivation ethics, the latitude and longitude
were just right. “Let’s have one of those frozen hens
for supper!”

~

“Desperate times require desperate measures,” cracked
the sports commentator. “Speculate about the interior of
a black hole, and maybe you have two sources of income
at once!” In the highest row of seats, he was absolutely
alone.

~

Who’s to say what’s to love? The earth
maintains immense magnetic fields without
anyone knowing the better. No one
remembers his dreams, and thus we
have little to say
in the telling of the legends.

————

THE STRATEGY

The captain’s strategy: castigate the reprobates, then
make a run for it. All bad movies start this way, with a trick.

~

Peerage is no substitute for experience, experience no substitute
for heart-in-a-thimble. At recess, he pretends to best his peers.

~

Ambivalence relaxes the scatter reflex, don’t you think? Automatically,
when you say “apple,” you’re arrow-bait on the horizon.

~

Quick fixes will catch on with a little grease. Do we have enough slices
of pie for a nice plate of leftovers? How about a power-sharing agreement?

~

A purposeful experiment sidesteps the erratic elements, unlike so many
races made to perish in the desert. Another layer of night, retracted.

~

A ribosome is a serpentine nest of prehensile tails—from which
we are assembled.

—————–

STATES OF ZERO RESISTANCE

1

Since superconductivity occurs in certain organic materials,
a good book’s assumptions may be considered
tenuous. Such as: soul can descend at
the touch of a button. But what about

the occasional train wreck? Pauli’s principle
lays down the law, namely: no two objects can claim
the same space at the same time. Dependent variables
include “heart of the matter” and “up along the event horizon.”

2

Human cognition is an imprecise science, yet the common man
can enact a blue ribbon performance. So let it be
said: the thousand-hour pilot relies on three methods
of navigation: radio, celestial, dead reckoning.

3

Should allegiance be infinitely tenured? Why not advertise
indifference? It’s been a half hour since anyone
stirred, and the only conclusion is,
“partial birth.”

4

Anyone can conceal a phantom limb—
anyone may be an orphan. Listen
to your muscles, it’s how
God speaks.

———————-

© John Graham 2010

Poems have appeared in Blue Mesa Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, New Mexico Poetry Review, Moria, Black Moon, THE, the anthology Off Channel, and other publications. Was a finalist in the Midwest Writing Center’s 2009 Mississippi Valley Poetry Contest, and the winner of the 2009 New Mexico Discovery Award in Poetry. Professionally, serve as the safety manager for the LANSCE particle accelerator facility at Los Alamos National Laborator