Viral
By Alejandro Escudé
The default moment—
———————–grass greener,
———–the news: two golfers, husband and wife, score hole in one’s.
Night and night goes. Viral messaging,
–
————————————little thought to presence,
my friend friends my wife on Facebook, I don’t like it
a stone
–
———————-goes hurdling through a jungle; my first eight years as a father,
–
no biblical reference, and again no biblical reference
———————————–even the cow having trouble giving birth is good TV
–
the vet approaches her, shirt off, something I was never meant to watch,
–
———————————-and if you look up, if one looks up
at the lit up avenues of space,
–
————————————there’s Jupiter! waiting in vain for a spaceship
supplanted even more than I am.
———————————————————–For what am I, despite it all
a seat, a skeleton at the graduation
where my old students only recall with half-hearted adolescent love
———————————–their very last English teacher
–
the penultimate a passing note in class
————————————————scribbled slang
a time to go, a party with pot,
——————————————— –a beer that tastes the same as it did in 1993
when I too did the same things
–
——————————————————————only less haphazardly and with more care
or perhaps it was a different type of care
——————————————————since rising gave you sun, a light drizzle
and riots
–
—————————-a satellite is set to a future time, it is living in another world
until calibrated to slow down
–
——————————————————so that now
I can find myself on a map where no one else can find me.
Alejandro Escudé’s first book of poems, My Earthbound Eye, was published in September 2013. He holds a master’s degree in creative writing from UC Davis and teaches English. Originally from Argentina, Alejandro lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Find more at alejandroescude.com.
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Photo by Gessy Alvarez
Intriguing poem with its many twists and turns, taking the reader along by the scruff of the neck.