Greasemonkey
6 September 2005 | Brett | Poems
I thought it would be like soldering or Latin,
worth knowing, but only just, this Greasemonkey
another leveler here to change everything
On the computer it was
six of one half, dozen of the other,
clever for people who like clever
But in our car it was capable of transubstantiation
95 without billboards
Deutschland’s HEMI® abominations
turned to Yugo and Volga and Citroën and
McMansions photosynthesized
into hemlock and corn and honeysuckle
And we could talk - my
hand on the wheel and under your
thigh - about the things we
fear, and how they’ll never really happen
Game Theory
3 September 2005 | Brett | Poems
Coffee makes me paranoid, but she likes
a fresh pot after the shower
so I have adapted, learned about burr grinders
purifying water, gold filters, quality beans
These scarabs with their unctuous shine
Starbucks customers think their local news is informative
but Peet’s is too indulgent and what about fair trade,
song birds, organic farming, shade
I have been unfaithful and she knows everything
I have been unfaithful and she suspects nothing
She has been unfaithful and I will learn about it
She has been unfaithful and I will never know
A Soothing Poultice
31 August 2005 | Brett | Poems
Like a soothing poultice he said
Not what he would say to his wife,
returned now after four months watching her mother die
in Texas, the infant a toddler, the girl
with her first loose tooth
Or to his wife’s best friend,
understanding and loving
and abundant with neglect,
the quietude of barrenness
But something he’d confess,
this steady parishioner, library volunteer,
a draftsman good with his hands
and a novice at tears
Imaginary Prisons
29 August 2005 | Brett | Poems
You are not allowed in Santa Maria del Priorato. Your petition for entry
will likely be turned down, but you can look through the keyhole and see
the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica framed by the trees
of the priory’s garden in accordance with the wishes of its designer
Piranesi built this church and made prints and died
among his copperplates but if he had gone on
living he would have made sets for Harold Lloyd and illustrated
Calvino and made love to Sophia Loren
When his stomach bothered him he would have drunk
aloe vera juice and applied arnica to his bruises and he would
have bought biodynamic wine and served risotto to guests and
cleaned his house with baking soda and vinegar
While listening to Ogg Vorbis and FLAC files on his Rio Karma
he would have posted Greasemonkey user scripts on his blog
which would be run off of Pages, Piranesi having learned enough PHP
to help Adam Newbold keep the project alive