Jane Joritz-Nakagawa


Meditation 18

whenever the bell sounds
something about weapons

                overtaking the city more
                narcotics needed

for the homeless
about water going over

                their heads
                i try welding

fear to tear but cannot envision
the resulting divorce

                proceedings weapons too
                can be from this area although the

pylonic sphincter band of
muscle is supposed to keep them

                at bay rising to the highest
                points of the :

there are certain
predictable sites where weapons

                accumulate such as
                hospitals and schools running

from the pelvic bone to the
pubic bone don't worry

                baby this was all
                set out in the previous

chapter actually weapons
represent every ethnic group

                and thus are just
                standard medical thought held

a group that gave
accreditation to neurotics

                and narcotics was
                ludicrous

of me to continue
in my belief that this was

                due to their nerves
                (no matter what the book

suggested) for multiple bouts
of soldiers when i told them they were

                suffering from a real illness most of them
                started to cry i often

thought I could cope if I could just think
straight but i

                couldn't so my husband became
                gradually disgusted with

my behavior slow
to believe the diagnosis i

                think known as blast mode
                as the weapons grew they

needed larger amounts
of narcotics which

                were quite well-
                absorbed by the intestinal tract but

they had been off
their original medications for some

                time due to their irritated :
                when cells do

spring cleaning there
is no doubt you would not want

                to be there thus
                we search for weapons to

intensify fatigue cognitive
impairment irritability depression anxiety

                and insomnia
                it's as if the weapons were moving

entirely in the wrong direction the
blood too is impatient and runs out everywhere

                fellow travelers in the blood
                you'll recall our theory

postulates that many lament
the loss of some of the products

                they've come to love which is
                how we quickly figured that out

it's important to remember
all they have in common

                is flu-like aching and that they act
                in certain areas of the globe

the name of the game is steal(th)
an accurate two

                inch barrel on a
                weapon that is less

than two feet long
in its 9mm form

                perfect for operations
                where you need a weapon that is quick and deadly

now they are not in the way
we know they are the hostages

                or if i could just have a different
                baby without rezeroing

or recalibrating the weapon
nothing can stand in the way

                (they tried to escape
                but couldn't) such

ideas could probably compromise
the whole mission



Jane Joritz-Nakagawa's poetry books are Skin Museum (2006), Aquiline (2007) and EXHIBIT C (2008). She lives and works in central Japan. Email is welcome at janenakagawa at yahoo dot com.

 
 
 
previous page     contents     next page