Joseph Di Prisco

Your first dog is ever your one dog And no story has a happy ending anymore. We have all wasted lives, sometimes we waste Our own. Some nights are long ones, some Never end at all. I don’t know how we can fall in love, which implies landing, Whereas love promises everything but. That’s why I like to listen to birds call At dusk to each other from the acacias But then I recall it’s still daylight and I Hear them in the absence of the trees. When I am traveling by train over mountains All I think of is the sea. My father was Never quite so alive until he died and now He’s immortal. Somebody must do the calculus, Somebody must work out the logic of the logic Of this spectacle because spectacle’s the last Word anyone would use for dreams that don’t cease, For the sound of weeping coming from the next room, Only there’s no next room and we’re the only ones There, though just for a moment and a lifetime more. Listen, I will tell you a secret, the secret you told Me once on the train into the mountains On the journey to the shore, a time long ago when We spoke and never met.That secret, which is ours. Some nights are so long the old dog comes home To us who remain there waiting and waiting Even if we’ve never been here before, where we are.

When I was a troubadour When I was an astronaut When I was a pirate You should have seen my closet You would have loved my shoes. Kindly consider my application Even though your position is filled. This is my stash of snow globes This is my favorite whip This is a picture of me with a macaw This is a song I almost could sing. When I was a freight train When I was a satellite When I was a campfire You should have seen the starburst You should have tasted my tomato. I feel sorry for you I’m unqualified This is my finest tube of toothpaste This is when I rode like the raj on a yak This is the gasoline this is the match. When I was Hegel’s dialectic When I was something Rothko forgot When I was moonlight paving the street You should have seen the roiling shore You should have heard the swarm of bees.

If you care about yourself at all, come to your own aid while there's still time. Marcus Aurelius 3.14 Citizen of Rome, you are the center of the universe. Problem is, circumference is—take a guess—me. “Some things are impatient to be born While others are impatient to die.” Don’t say I did not warn you. Next time they swear Shit happens, pop them square in the nose. This will not help anybody, but helping is The farthest thing from my imperial mind. If you keep your spirit blameless and pure People will drape you with laurels but No one will have sex with you in backseats Or marble mausoleums or anywhere else, A small price to pay for honor and respect Though not for me, being an emperor with no clothes. Just pretend today is the last day of your life And act accordingly—not that such strictures Apply to Yours Truly, sports fans. The forces of evil march on the fortress Of your self. I wish I could explain why. But what if evil did not exist and what if Your self was no fortress, see what I mean? Stoics get a bad name.Not in touch with feelings. Too rigid. Know-it-all cocksure mothers. So the Stoics retain PR firms, don’t tell a soul. If you really knew what was good for you, And you do, why do you care I’ll flail you alive? True, pissing off your emperor is a poor plan, Even one like me mounted bare-assed on a steed. Once upon a time, children…The story peters out. Circus revels and gladiatorial raves— Seen one, seem them all. Life is tiresome, When will it end and will we ever notice? I wish I knew. Really, I wish I cared. My pal, Marcus Aurelius, natters day and night: “Living is more like wrestling than dancing.” Guess he never saw me take Molly at the club. And he says we always have the option of Having no opinion. Right. Like he knows. OK, then, where did I put my pants?

#1 [COLLEGE] We packed your satchel with sweatshirts, Soccer equipment, and The Elements of Style, Loaded up the Hum Vee, a sad drive to JFK And the cross-country flight to starting college, where fortunately due to Advanced Placement Courses you’ve already been awarded your MFA And published your first book. As we pulled out of the driveway, I slammed On the brakes, and not on account of Jubilation, The neighbor’s cat. “Stacey,” I said, “we have jumped the gun.” “I didn’t know we had a gun, Pops,” you said. “This is a figure of speech, a melonaphore. But you can’t go to college yet, Stacey, you’re barely by my count five years old.” “That’s all right, Daddy-O, nice try. But my name’s not Stacey.” #2 [PUPPY] Love this puppy and your love will be repaid. I can’t stress how little this will teach you about life. Which it will. Which is a lot. Sometimes, when you’re sad, I won’t know what to say. Desire will cut into the bone. So much we need to cover before you’re on your own. This is a tea kettle, where goldfish won’t feel at home. When I was your age, before you were born, A war was almost certainly about to break out. The Russians turned out to be just like us, Only worse drivers, which is a lot like us, too. I had a pet once, too, you know. An accordion. Very tough to train, stained with fluids as it was About which nothing further need be said. Your questions matter. No, they really do. I have no clue as to the white carnations, No reason to suppose the stars were not meant for you. #3 [FISH] “Do fish sleep?” I am so glad you asked. Once Upon a time fish did not even catnap. Childhood has reached a certain point. More specific than that, I cannot be, Or less. When you drive to Chartres You can see it coming at you far away. Never pass up a cathedral if you can. Drink lots of water with the strawberries. Leap before you look too hard, which makes Things swim in your head, like fish that never sleep. #4 [BIRDS…] “Time’s come to talk to you about the birds.” “And the bees?” “What do you know about the bees?” “Was just asking.” “A falcon is one bird you can’t keep in a cage, I can’t explain why, though I might point To history for many instructive precedents.” “You have trouble explaining, Dad.” “Anyway, what I like about birds is, they’re much Like dreams—they fly in through a window Where you didn’t know there was a window before.” “I get it. We open to the known and discover Mysteries left in their place, like putting under the pillow A tooth that fell out and you come up with the cash When you need it in the morning, for school.” “Let’s stay focussed, Amy.” “Sure, Reginald.” “I mind it that you call me Reginald, who’s he?” “Someday, Dad, I may fall in love.” “Let’s go back to the birds. I don’t want to say Love is for the ornithologists, though such thoughts occur. Maybe the real topic is experience.” “I knew that.” “When?” “You told me.” “I never.” “Didn’t have to.” “That’s how, you just know?” “Life’s a vale of tears, Pops, except when it’s not.” “Hence, sweetheart, some birds thrive in cages.” “Name three.” “I want you to try on some wings. I want you to take flight. Like the day I gave birth…” “What?” “The day I gave birth to you was the day of days.” “You feeling OK?” “The epidural worked like a charm, I felt like I was swimming in air.” “I think you’re confused.” “I wouldn’t be the first, but when they handed you to me You nursed till you fell asleep.” “You’re talking about love.” “And some bees sting.” #5 [BOND] Once we had a bond, a sacred trust. I carried you on my shoulders, we watched The finches dart and feed, I read The Odyssey To you, which OK was a stretch, but who cared You did not exist? Certainly, not me. But take the example of Homer. Would you just give me a chance? There’s an old dog called Argus Who waits for the hero to show before he dies. I’m getting to the point. If we never had a dog I would wait for you to arrive from a journey Forced upon you by chance and fate. You see, the whole thing’s about waiting. There you are off-stage readying yourself For a grand entrance into a life none of us Heretofore presumed. I myself ache Barometrically in concert with the coming storms. If you never are, I have something left over Even if it’s only me, watching you wade in, as if You were a great swimmer and this world another shore.