Current Poem
The Water CoolerPosted on: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 / 00:00 hrs
They're poisoning the atmosphere
now you and I've split,
coming out of the dark
to make those acid remarks
to all and sundry
because they're trying to get something clear.
The mistletoe puts up its mitts
now you and I've split.
The black oaks jostle
bark on careworn bark
to make those acid remarks
at the Christmas party
and the mistletoe puts up its mitts
to vie for the sweet-throated throstle
where the black oaks jostle
over a back fence
in the industrial park.
As they make those acid remarks
in the third-floor Ladies
and vie for the sweet-throated throstle,
the black oaks seem no less tense
over a back fence
than the chestnuts dishing the dirt.
Even the sweet-throated lark
will make those acid remarks
to all and sundry,
seeming no less tense
than so many introverts,
than the chestnuts dishing the dirt
down by the water cooler
about our being found stark
naked in the copy-room. Such acid remarks
at the Christmas party.
Like so many introverts,
like all the other carpoolers
down by the water cooler,
the chestnuts cough up their lungs
and hint that it's only the payroll clerks
would make such acid remarks
in the third-floor Ladies.
Like all those other carpoolers,
the maples wag their tongues
and cough up their lungs
because they're trying to get something clear.
Something about our rekindling the spark
being the burden of their acid remarks
to all and sundry.
The maples wag their tongues.
They're poisoning the atmosphere.
from Paul Muldoon's Plan B

