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TAO LIN |
manatee
poem for ellen
a manatee pushed by a wave slides headfirst onto a beach
making a very loud noise, which it is still making
as it is pulled back into the ocean
by the wave i mentioned in the first line of this
poem
a small, depressed child watches this on halloween
at 1:30 p.m., wearing a lobstersuit, and then at
night in a roomful of adults
who are wearing mostly slut costumes
mimics the manatee noise—a loud, sustained, unhappy, high-pitched noise
the child is removed from the halloween party
to a side room
eight years later in high school art class the child summons a steller sea cow
the sea cow appears and then rolls over twice
killing four sluts, three goths, one football player
and two heavy metal friends; the heavy metal beast
who took your photo in the japanese restaurant
was a severely depressed and lonely manatee
at night alone in his room he headbutts holes in his
walls
while repeatedly screaming 'manatee!!'
in a very loud, low-pitched voice; at stadium heavy metal concerts
he sometimes replaces ozzy osbourne's
lyrics
with the word 'manatee' repeated many times; and before showering each morning
he takes off all his clothes and takes off his glasses and looks in the mirror
he looks exactly like a manatee
he is alone because most manatees enjoy easy listening or big band music
hamsters are heads with little
characteristics on the head
in florida a giant hamster lays in bed worrying about
its future
the hamster has bad eyesight
and many other problems; later that night the hamster drives its car around
listening to sad music; the hamster lightly drums its paws on the steering
wheel
the hamster is alone
but not for long: at home three waffle friends patiently wait
cooling inside a countertop oven in the kitchen
the next morning the hamster stands in the shower
the hamster's upturned paw has a small dab of shampoo on it
this will not be enough shampoo
the hamster feels sarcastic
the hamster's body and cheeks are warm
from the sunlight through the window
and the hamster is very afraid
it feels so sad so early in the day
in the evening the hamster sits at the computer
watermelon juice and coffee sit by the computer
the hamster drinks all of the coffee
after a few minutes the hamster drinks all of the watermelon juice
the hamster lays its paw atop a neatly folded to-do list; this is a resourceful
hamster
with a strong will, a sincere and loving hamster friend, and a confident nature
we do not need to spend any more time or empathy on this hamster
yet we return to the same hamster the next night
the hamster lays in bed on its side at four a.m.
looking at photos of its faraway hamster friend
carefully the hamster places the photos in a neat pile behind its pillow
the hamster remembers when its hamster friend showed its ass
on the side of a mountain; the hamster knows it was good
the hamster knows it was good because it cannot easily remember whose idea it
was
that's how you judge things: if you can or cannot easily remember its source
from now on that's how you judge things; thank you; good night
poem for ellen
a sea world asian acrobat
an embarrassed sea world asian acrobat walking very
fast toward a private area
an ocean sunfish seeing a blue avocado
an ocean sunfish seeing a drowning moose
a very small blue whale very bright in the sun
a very small blue whale very bright in the sun seen from a distance
ellen reading lydia davis in a hotel room
ellen and five cheese beasts in a taxicab
neva dinova hiding behind a
sofa
alfalfa sprouts in a hotel room growing very slowly
moby alone at sea world walking past a glowing photo
of a chinstrap penguin
moby alone at epcot waiting
in line for the norway ride
moby alone on the norway
ride
shamu alone on the norway
ride
a chinese acrobat in green walking very fast through
the 'fast pass' lane for the norway ride
ellen and tao inside a
private bathroom at epcot looking in a mirror at ellen and tao
a private bathroom at epcot seen from a distance
glenn gould in outer space
confused
second poem for ellen
ellen right-clicking on and dragging a good riddance
song to a mixed cd
a good riddance song moving across a computer screen very confused and afraid
ellen swimming in circles in an oval above-ground
pool
glenn gould alone in canada thinking bad thoughts about chopin
glenn gould running away
a moose seeing an orca
a moose screaming
a giant fish in shallow water very confused
a vintage mumu inside a closet at night
a river slapping ellen's ass continuously
a very small kiss on top of a very small playground early in the evening
a polka-dot dress and an orange shirt waiting very patiently on a beach
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