J. ALAN NELSON

Holus-Bolus

In a wink
words
in any direction may lead:
to sundered fate,
frenzied thought
and fearful monsters.
Beware words that break bones
with brittle crack
or throb with liquid brightness
on distant moons.
Beware sounds
that slip from meaning
to symbols of nonsense
then back to the gritty gist
as a virus rearranges DNA.
Blunder from one language
to another dying tongue.
Defy conventions
despite manacles
of academia.
Great hazards crouch
in these terms
that undo love.
The vocabularies
throw the unwary
in brutal confusion.
Beware those
bred in learning.
The rank smell
from damaged words
rise like the heat from hot tar
poured on worn pavement
pressed by too many feet.                                                                                              

 

 

 

                                                                          

       

           

         

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