Weights and Measures: Poetry Reading in Salem, MA -- November 5, 2016

-->

Friday, October 7, 2016

Poetry Reading in Salem, MA -- November 5, 2016

On November 5, 2016 at 12:00 noon I will be reading from my new books of poetry at Derby Joe Café, located at 142 Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970. The reading will be 2 hours long and hosted by In the Afternoon Press. Other poets will also be reading.

No comments:

The Custom House

Another age: our greed-governed ancestors

Venture forth, significant supercargoes

Compelling the twins: speed and economy.

They bounded oceans for Madagascar

Or Malay, craved the Orient’s garb.

We watch for their return with telescope

Of brass: pennants streaming, hull stowed with teas

And silks. We dream them into our harbors.

We await tribute from captains now arrived,

Long doldrumed—their ships in need of repair:

Sails split and rotting, spars sprung.

Ascending the granite steps, these dangerous men,

These men unable to meet our tariffs

Curse the collectors of the world, the weights

And measures; their minds unbalanced, salt-eaten.

They sulk impatiently, clawing their daggers:

We’ve seen their kind before.

Once in every while a revolution;

They murder us at our desks: stabbed with pen,

Bludgeoned with ink bottle. We disappear

For a time: there are advantages,

Our ghostly machinery still keeping account.

In the end they always pay.

Pages

Search This Blog

Friday, October 7, 2016

Poetry Reading in Salem, MA -- November 5, 2016

No comments:

Post a Comment