Poem: Just An Improvisation

Just An Improvisation

I would just put a list down
and call it a day
and it would be a good list
with things like beetles and paper hats
and the name "Desmond," and, also, pillows,
hats, the concept of gravity, a shadow I saw once
that looked like a man in a hat sticking out his tongue
and I never figured out what it was the shadow of,
lion manes, sea weed, the town of Portsmouth
and all the other towns that have taken that name, too,
and all types of triangles, and the first girl I kissed
whose name I don't even know but I remember
she had blond hair and acne, and now
I have a list anyway, right
and you are not sure why
and I am not either,
really, but it was what I was afraid of,
that I wouldn't have anything else,
just a litany, just things and the question
of why and what it means,
which is harder on me
than on you, I suppose
because you can walk away
and say there was nothing to it,
that it did not matter,
but I know I have a reason
even if I cannot recognize.

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