Bernie Earley


Rim Rat  


A 
spinning
rim
wobbles

wobbles 
where 
ends
weld.

Welded
words 
run out
from zero. 

Zero 
spoken 
spun 
rolls bent. 



Matchless  


A ratchet
rather
the design mechanical
detours evolution
crosses off river moss. 

I mean
some stayed for the quivering reveries  
still
stirring
at terminals for birds.

Heat
permanent 
pertinent
drips
in pools. 

Scalded eyes
punch out,
out and up.
What fills
a page in space?

Titanium shells 
poly-graphite trim
molybdenum windows 
a tetra-ethylene wing thrown in
in case of emergency, in case you crash.  



Keeper 


1. Ware  

If every so often, Unit A comes knocking for a fix
and if main bearing JA306C supersedes JA4118 in the fix 

then even with updates retaining old stock diameters for rollers,
originality is lost.

But if a new old stock JA4118 replaces a worn JA4118
is originality lost?


2. Parts   
 
If Unit A parts reiterate from an original part
and the original part is the same part reiterated in Unit A series

then which part wouldn’t be the same
as the One of which the other ones come?   

If the One reiterates in all the other ones 
then all polished aluminum hubs that gleam in the sun are same as the original One?

If all reiterated parts are same as the original one 
and original ones are used to rebuild reiterated Unit 1

then reiterated rebuilt Unit 1 is same as original One? 
Why is this starting sound like a lot of loose nuts and bolts shaken in tin can?


3. Units

If rebuilt units are done with identical parts 
which one is the One of which the originals come?

Would it not be Unit A’s prototype under glass 
slicing time from time: It is not the original One?

A’s prototype under glass slices time from time 
but disappears into the river of time continuously a molecule at a time. 

If it disappears into the river of time a molecule at a time 
is it still the original One?


4. Keeper

We should step back from this abyss to a safe paradox uncomfortable as it seems.
The vibration continues: it is and is not the original one, 

is and is not what disappears into the river of time a molecule at a time, 
is and is not what fails to recoup what lies under coats of black:

a streak of flamboyant blue
a speck of tangerine—invariably scratched.  

But we keep a cracked switch’s burnished cap. 
We keep pitted rims oxidized red, chromium peels, leaves of steel.

Bernie Earley (PhD Binghamton U., 1996) has published two chapbooks: Biker Poems (1987) and 13 Poems (2002). His translation of “Beckett for the Last Time” appeared in Concourse 7. Online publications of poems and reviews have appeared in Moria, Home Planet News, and Otoliths. He taught poetry, writing and literature at UC Davis, CUNY at Brooklyn College and Baruch, Manhattan Community College, Wagner College, SUNY Cortland, and he presently teaches writing online at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Earley lives in Cortland, New York, and spends spare time restoring vintage British motorcycles.

 
 

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