No Such Poem</a> <link rel='stylesheet' href='http://arsonism.org/devaney/ndxz-studio/site/sample/style.css' type='text/css' /> </head> <body> <table align="center" width="500"> <tr><td> <h3>No Such Poem</h3> <p> <small><i>to John Coletti</i></small></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1"><br> </span>John, hug "like a quilt truck."</p> <p>On the roof "Cooing a page</p> <p class="p3"> in the twilight."</p> <p class="p1">Quilts, quilts, quilts: how can I</p> <p class="p1">describe their single-stitch tred?</p> <p class="p1">I know if you knew, you'd take us—</p> <p class="p1">I know that. As you do, and <i>do</i>.</p> <p class="p1">You don't say, "You don't say." </p> <p class="p1">Nor I don't want to live like a story.</p> <p class="p1">A translucent brown lanoline floor-dust</p> <p class="p1">is there for you to see, sweep,</p> <p class="p1">blow away, note by slow dusty note.</p> <p class="p1">No bull, yes; "someone stole." </p> <p class="p1">JC enters the ring: it's war, it's peace—</p> <p class="p3"> Leo T. to a <i>T</i>. </p> <p class="p1">Ted and Ted G. are in the corner,</p> <p class="p3"> your cut men. </p> <p class="p1">Curly hair Coletti, measured eyes, measured</p> <p class="p1"> lips—the measure of a moan</p> <p class="p1">"Sewn inside your ear" to keep.</p> <p class="p1">The conceit of <i>this </i>and all conceits.</p> <p class="p1">All the silent bruises I have ever loved,</p> <p class="p1">the "emotional surface" scratched and gone too.</p> <p class="p1">Wrapped in blankets, no one asking if it's a flood. </p> <p class="p4"><br></p> <p><i> Thomas Devaney</i></p> </body> </html>