Dale Jensen


Bus Wait

ica nse em ysel fw alki n
go vert oth eb uss    topth ati can
seeth rough    aw in dow
as is it he r ere ading cartoons

theb us wi    l    lap pear
ik now them in doftheb    us to
oal li cando

se eme no wat th eb
u ss top t hebu ss
top acc rosst hest reet
allicad o isw a it



Meeting the Folks (after Edgar Rice Burroughs)

the fellow    to both me
seized husband cut once occurred to
toward anything else    it tasteful to him

cigarette his eyes fell

his future he enter    look forward with side
not even the apes of his awe
and so it was    our landing    her
feeling up along the sides of his shaft
sat opposite    she had hinted at it
as the moon crossed its eyes

had just removed from    he answered

the official family strange too



A Cold Drink

deATh exchANges drINKs with you    SMILEs
don’t worry    deATh says    i’m an abstrACTION
NO you’re not    YOU say
takiNg a sIP



Destinations Delayed (Deity)

foghorn commuting strangers
with the two accents he just invented

    oh well
    it worked on ships

he bellowed    get me one of these
he tries to        stays in the water
he holds out
innocent empty space to them in the palm of his hand

his voice    push them out into vacuum
soon though he has thousands of angels
automobile    subway    recordings of
rocks piling themselves into mountains
before anyone notices

    trains of thought    emptier now

destinations are farther from their deity
newly laundered rabbits play blues blanket
voices rub gently against the sun

the way a pier understands the tide
waves coming in in different keys
you can still smell the ocean
even when you’re yet one



With Apologies to Bulwer-Lytton

detour by apology
and destiny dethroned

    rrr e-fuse
    toy our self

talent
    the vegetable in the desert

then short sentences:
    the last days of pompeii
    the lost gate of dawn
    the lust roar of raw fur
    the least look over your shoulder
        as the morning after sunset
        goes brighter and brighter

the dark alleys
the maidens of history
    conscious watcher admit
    your own
    brilliance

Dale Jensen was born in Oakland and has degrees in psychology from UC Berkeley and the University of Toronto. He has seven books and four chapbooks out, has co-coordinated several poetry reading series, and edited the poetry magazine Malthus.

 
 

previous page     contents     next page