Ashbery 4 (from "Mutt and Jeff")

Contemporary Blister



Actually the intent of
The polish remained,
A fragment of someone's snowball.

And you see, things work for me,
kind of. We get exported
and must scrabble around for a while
in some dusty square.

Wabash . . .

Still, the goldfish bowl remains
After all these years like an image
Reflected on water.

The mouse eyes me admiringly
From behind his chair; the one or two cats
Pass gravely under my leg from time to time.

My sudden fruiting into the war
Is like a dream now. The day

Bounced green off its boards.
There's nothing to return, really:

I saw my chance for a siesta and took it.