Charles Borkhuis
RENDEZVOUS
the attitudinal pen
is scratching another provisional plot
across my chest
I can almost read the future
backwards in the mirror
our bodies ooze like oil on glass
tell me isn’t the object of desire
to get truly lost
turning the corner we see
another couple dressed up
in our thoughts and skin
and suddenly we’re in their bodies
looking back at ourselves
horrified yet fascinated
by the possibility of having sex
maybe it was inevitable
that sooner or later
we should meet
BESIDE THE POINT
take these lips
or are they yours
the hard and fast of it
dissolve or share the air
without knowing it
a thread is pulled taut
a grand theme quivers in the bow
how many years with the same head
balanced on the next syllable
I prefer to speak with quantum lips
as free-ranging fowl
pecking over possible worlds
where are the minutes in my face
I don’t remember the whole
moment or future past
the birth or death of it
in so many words
CHANCE ENCOUNTER
one is thrown
by certain coincidences
a mooning in the eyes let’s say
followed by a dairy cow falling out of a plane
one has these thoughts
they could be anyone’s at a given moment
call it le hazard
or spontaneous combustion
but I have the distinct impression of smoke
curling up my arms and legs
I was forced to use a whistle
to ward off the official handshake of redemption
of course when my face is removed
it will be easier to examine the abyss
just place my hands like this
so that I appear to be at home
in the unknowable
Charles Borkhuis is a poet and playwright living in NYC. His 7 books of poems include Disappearing Acts and Alpha Ruins, which was nominated for a W.C. Williams Book Award. Dead Ringer is forthcoming from BlazeVOX books. His 2 radio plays, aired over NPR, are on pennsound.
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RENDEZVOUS
the attitudinal pen
is scratching another provisional plot
across my chest
I can almost read the future
backwards in the mirror
our bodies ooze like oil on glass
tell me isn’t the object of desire
to get truly lost
turning the corner we see
another couple dressed up
in our thoughts and skin
and suddenly we’re in their bodies
looking back at ourselves
horrified yet fascinated
by the possibility of having sex
maybe it was inevitable
that sooner or later
we should meet
BESIDE THE POINT
take these lips
or are they yours
the hard and fast of it
dissolve or share the air
without knowing it
a thread is pulled taut
a grand theme quivers in the bow
how many years with the same head
balanced on the next syllable
I prefer to speak with quantum lips
as free-ranging fowl
pecking over possible worlds
where are the minutes in my face
I don’t remember the whole
moment or future past
the birth or death of it
in so many words
CHANCE ENCOUNTER
one is thrown
by certain coincidences
a mooning in the eyes let’s say
followed by a dairy cow falling out of a plane
one has these thoughts
they could be anyone’s at a given moment
call it le hazard
or spontaneous combustion
but I have the distinct impression of smoke
curling up my arms and legs
I was forced to use a whistle
to ward off the official handshake of redemption
of course when my face is removed
it will be easier to examine the abyss
just place my hands like this
so that I appear to be at home
in the unknowable
Charles Borkhuis is a poet and playwright living in NYC. His 7 books of poems include Disappearing Acts and Alpha Ruins, which was nominated for a W.C. Williams Book Award. Dead Ringer is forthcoming from BlazeVOX books. His 2 radio plays, aired over NPR, are on pennsound.
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