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The Empty Flagpole
...............The shifting relationship between the senses and the intelligence makes the apprehension of reality problematic, even when one repeatedly refuses, as [Jasper] Johns does, to succumb to the desire for asylum.
..............................from The United States of Jasper Johns by John Yau
What does it say about me when I ask for asylum in places where people wish to leave? I try to find meaning in flags. But they repel me when buffeted by an incidental breeze. Oh, I reconsider when I am pierced by an empty flagpole. It makes me think of barkers at street corners flaying the wake of traffic. They should never sell their souls.
ThereI go again with sideway glances. I do not need a mirror to know my reflection. When I close my eyes, the sensation is home made, deep dish apple pie. I forget that I deliberately failed to sign the checks I mailed. Must even the tiniest ant get a bite?
I try to get by but show up in clown outfits where others deconstruct black dresses. Once, I actually threatened to bear someone’s child. This evening I walked exactly 100 long blocks in New York City. On Block No. 99, a redhead with hair trapped in corn rows ruined me with an approach. It didn’t matter that the offer was a drug store sale proclaimed by a cheap flyer. I was accosted by desire.
Sometimes I get tired of immolation. And I haven’t slept for a while. How I long for another stranger to relish my lips.
Copyright ©2005 Carayan Press
