Poetry

Three poems

A line from Wassily Kandinsky (2)

Fish do not have hands but do

display a breathless, almost

childlike, quality, even in emails.

Everyday activities can often be

the most meaningful signifiers.

I want to create that exclamation

mark balloon & “DING” sound

to occur during a cutscene, but

my browser can’t play the video.

Colour is the keyboard; though

you have to click on the header

portion to activate it. I failed to do

so. A black screen appeared, & I

lost most of the effects – sports

medicine, special education, speech

& health supplies to school nurses,

athletic trainers. Plus, after playing

some songs the next day, I pressed

the appropriate hotkey & cycled

through the playlist to discover a

bunch of albums were missing. E-

very consecutive press would play

one frame & then go into pause

mode. It restarted my phone as well.

Does all your data really get deleted

when you reset your phone to factory

defaults? Or, when you open the box

& play, does it all become about de-

ception, all smoke & mirrors, where

women use exclamation marks & men

don’t. Fish, usually out of place in

formal writing, may sometimes bite.

The Game of Gulf

In the Royal &

Abstract Science of

space & quantity

it transpired

we were equally

matched. That’s a

therefore or a

turning point. Let’s

go dancing, she

said, & so we did.

Tranquillity in high heels

The atrium is / full of

lust but otherwise is

overflowing. Trains

leave on the hour as

the third hand of the

conductor comes

sweeping down to try

& guess the sequential

value of the prizes. Order.

Or a musical sweet. Try

treat. Or suite. Or segue

into sequins with a

secondhand train that

sweeps across the piazza

& takes the money with

three items still left

open. Cannot see the

fingers on the keys,

but the thumbs are

those of a murderer.

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on December 6, 2025 as "Three poems".

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