Jake Sheff
Thirdborn:
“After a long examination and discussion, we behaved like nearly all great men and acted in an almost random manner.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Two Weeks in the Wilderness
Not another magazine of sweet and sour
Resources. How about we listen to No Doubt,
Or The Smashing Pumpkins? Underneath those plastic
Lawn chairs, you’ll find sufficiency, necessity
And style, prettier than mother’s poesieplaatjes.
My muscles ache from twirling in the vortex.
Comfort has more value than life to him,
Clarissa. His eyes resemble an empty rumor.
Your heart is like the road to Saginaw
In a summer storm’s dark interior; it only
Becomes a luminous thread in a flash of…
Put your body into it. Let’s twist on three…
My sinuses are pounding; almost every evil
Is a permanent problem, but the Alka-Seltzer
Will kick in soon. Tie a string to the power
Cord, before you feed it back to me; complete
Control is helpful when nothing’s been revealed.
I can show you how much has fallen in the vortex.
Firstborn:
“…thelu (female) appears to be partly derived from thele (the teat), because the teat is like rain, and makes things flourish (tethelenai).” Socrates, in Plato’s Cratylus
The neighbors’ voices and the subhuman songs
Of spring distracted me; I pinched my finger.
Why does Corri care about nature’s cortex-envy?
She hasn’t learned, neglect can be of service.
This stupid sump pump takes the water’s natural
Advantages too far. I prefer the moral peacefulness
Of the beer bong. I would take reputation or wind
Sprints over whatever money we can save by doing
This ourselves. My knees are bored. My mouth is
Dry, and not too bright compared to what she says
About the vortex. Can I twist it further? Far from it!
That airplane sounds too low, like Corri, like
Resisting apathy. She’ll be happy if I can reposition
The base of this thing, but if I bring up dad, she’ll
Stand up solemn as a Roman column, and repeat
His favorite line of Cotton Mathers’: ‘He try’d to live
Without her, lik’d it not, and dy’d.’ Toxic empathy pre-
Vents the sounds of those passing cars from dying unloved.
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Jake Sheff is a pediatrician and veteran of the US Air Force. His poems and short stories have been published widely. Some have even been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. A full-length collection of formal poetry, “A Kiss to Betray the Universe,” is available from White Violet Press. He also has two chapbooks: “Looting Versailles” (Alabaster Leaves Publishing) and “The Rites of Tires” (SurVision).
