I.

The trick
is not to panic.

Relax.
Free the hands
     and let it dance
          as the sundry documents

Shuffle.

Imagine salsa
Playing on the background—

Listen—
                    the music whips
          and spins and flips,
everything realigns

In perfect sense,
The sequences

Fall in flawless
Choreography:

a, b, c, d
one
     two
          three

          put it here
       and put it there,
          slip it out
       and slip it in.

II.

Hold a hand up
And flex your fingers
Real wide apart
From each other
While the other hand

       aims

And inserts a piece of it
In one finger-space
To another,
Shifting
Back and forth
And meeting
In-between
Until
You have pulled out
The last sleeve

Of confusion.

III.

You wish it were all
          That simple?

Like, the world
Is a mess.

You can arrange
In a drawer

And life is but another
Piece of paper?

Oh well, you cant
Loosen up now,

No, not just yet.
When finally, you walk

Outside, you’ll see—
Your days

Have piled up
In a sky-wounding

Tower, tremulous
And ominous

As it casts down
Its tailless shadow
On you.

Montage Vol. 6 • August 2002