Anney Bolgiano
Is it stealing to pick up rocks off the street?
a park? someone's driveway?
Do you often fantasize about hitting people?
somewhat? not at all?
Did you come upon two ground fires here?
Did you tell the operator
it wasn't a business,
it wasn't a residence,
it was two burning rings of fire?
Did she tell you that you should not try to put them out
while you put out the smaller one with your boots?
Did you realize, later, that if it had been
gasoline you would have died?
And for a long time did you
imagine burning alive on a Friday night,
between the metro tracks
and a bicycle path?
Do you take any pleasure in games?
Do you visualize droplets?
Did your friend watch a car wreck
from his bedroom window as a child?
Have you ever complimented a coworker
on his or her appearance?
Did you ask your mother what "extradition"
meant at an intersection twenty years ago?
Did she offer up the most gruesome case study?
Did you ever forget it?
When you drive through the intersection now
do you remember remembering body
parts in aluminum trash cans?
Is it somewhat true or not at all true
that in the past year you
have hugged one or more of your coworkers?
Is your mother in the living room now,
condemning the nuclear family? And
is the television playing a
British murder mystery on mute? And
how do so many people die so often
in such a small and scenic town?
Did you want to write about
the man who set himself on fire
outside the White House?
Did you search "words for burning"
until you remembered on your own:
"self-immolation"?
Is it somewhat true that
most people would never lie if rarely given the chance?
Is it slightly true that sometimes
you have to exaggerate a little to protect yourself?
Is it not at all true that in the past year
you have driven above the speed limit?
And are the parking lots filled
with grey-haired men on skateboards?
How far have you gotten in Dark Fields of the Republic?
Were the leaves damp?
Was it February?
Do you think you could work in a hardware store
if you're no good at arithmetic?
If you have five lemons
and each cost fifteen cents?
Do you bring groceries
to a woman who meets you
at the door wearing a gas mask? And
does she make you think
of World War One?
the Dadaists?
Did you ever get over the Dadaists?
Did you stay to take pictures?
Did you stay until the firefighters came?
Was it exciting to hear the sirens
coming and know they were coming for you?
Were they coming for you?
Did you stay to take pictures?