The frogs were singing on Christmas Eve
of electrochemistry
and old memories of the sun,
in Bolivia,
while Earth was still habitable,
I all ruthless nitrogen,
all ineluctable tubules, compulsive apertures,
and conscience for anthropology.
Breeches and petticoat danced on the line
to genetic flurries
and old rumors of the mortal scale,
in Wyoming,
the stars glittering at high noon,
I all oblique instincts,
all leaping syllogisms and dark fables,
validating the universe by my mercy.
White-robed figures drifted from shade to shade,
freely willing
and liable to humanistic voices,
in Morocco,
a storm surging on a lunar shore,
I all eye behind the eyes,
all angry dream work and enigmatic dignities,
preparing my whole life to bid it a true goodbye.
Oliver Rice’s poems appear
widely in journals and anthologies in the United States and abroad. Creekwalker released an interview with him in January 2010. His
book of poems, On Consenting to Be a Man, is
published by Cyberwit and available
on Amazon. His online chapbook, Afterthoughts, Siestas, and his
recording of his Institute for Higher Study
appeared in Mudlark in December
2010.
