As Involved With Me
Poem on Marion’s Birthday

i
nature already up in me, moving in me

why do I need a man up in me
in competition with nature,
with feces, with how absolutely
delicious defecating can be

already it’s intercourse, nature and me

feces oftentimes as sweet as,
or sweeter than, foods we eat

ii
on Wednesday nights on mike
I could have a good crap
is why I love these readings so

I so look forward to them
for pure relief, complete relief
more and more relief, release

hardly anywhere, anyhow, otherwise,
after, am I as relieved, am I as free

iii
is this madness or sadness
or brilliance or what
nothing like it ever seen, ever tried
in the space on-mike provides

come to reveal, not to hide, loose,
not tied

Tide enough to wash the dirtiest linen
when the tide washes in, splashes,
snow-white foam
not at all unlike boiling rapids

iv
I wake with poems on my mind,
with Marion on my mind

not easy to get ink off hands, off lips,
when, in the middle of exams,
your pen burst and you try to fix it,
to be mechanic, make a mess


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2007
5:57 p.m. 02/08/07