David Antin

ix. 

every now and then
mysterious bumps made him jump
he would stand transfixed in a doorway
see a scene of disorder
she told him in a confidential manner
'now it's my turn to hide'
that had been on a Thursday
he crushed a bottle under his heel
he took out his pocket knife and loosened the earth
he rose and brushed the knee of his trousers
she took away the tray
she placed the bowl on the bed
she kept coming back to his sex
a doubtful whiteness
'after you finish school'
'you will take your law degree'
'we will give it to you'
'but i should like to go to Germany'
'you must go to England and France'
he knelt down under the tree
he slept for some time
he remembered the blue glass
he stepped out of a doorway
bareheaded
he performed these actions
with a sense of austerity
all the same
there must be sense
in this madness
only
he was not in a position
to discover it

--David Antin

fr. "Novel Poem" in Selected Poems: 1963-1973
[Los Angeles: Sun and Moon Press, 1991]

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