VIII. A I L M N O P T

I am a minimal animal

a pinpoint pinto in pain

a nominal limo palamino

a limp impala on a pantaloon plain.

I’m a Milano lollipop lion

in a Tampa tilapia nation

I plan to plant lantana in Atlanta

I aim to maintain a plantation.

I tattoo a militant motto

on a lamplit Latino mailman

I paint an opal lanolin lotion

onto a manila-tan ottoman.

I pop a tall pom-pom piñata

atop a million-mañana platoon

A total timpani militia

on a pliant palatial moon.

X. QUINTENT

She believed in justice and reason
He in paths already taken
Together they drifted toward heaven

The brightest cherry
is plucked from the lowest branch
where we see it best.

Money – a store of value
and the story of you:
how you obtained it,
where you hoarded it,
when you let go of it,
what you exchanged it for,
whom you bequeathed it to,
why it meant so much to you,
e pluribus you.

Songbirds do not know
the sour hearts of those
to whom sweetly they sing

I never used a line on you
I never had to
I never had one.