rob macdonald-last new death

8/9/2019 rob macdonald-last new death

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THE PAINTERTHE PAINTERTHE PAINTERTHE PAINTER

has entered her turpentine period,

spends all day erasing away yearsof landscapes that no longer exist.

First, those clearly unreal leaves,then, the branches of the treesdrip weakly down the easel.

Tonight, she shuts off her cell,locks the studio door andproceeds to uncover even more.

Behind a stand of yellow birch,a crooked yield sign is revealed.Wherever the river recedes, blue USB.

Look at the eyes of the old steed;he cant possibly compete with

Valvoline Instant Oil Change.

She feels so Un-Columbus,un-da Gama; this is dirty, this businessof stripping the wool pants from Pan.

The painter, she peeks out her windowas she strains to see the planes thatthunder by, she cant help but wonder

why the citys streets are so empty.


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On the other hand, whats left out therebut an ugly truth, an off-white canvas?

[national parks][invisible ink][Pandora][abandon][a monument to the past itself][shantih]


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ACTUALLY,ACTUALLY,ACTUALLY,ACTUALLY,

the pebbles in the stream do not sing,

and the truth is that none of the swans,not even the whitest one, can tellfrom your eyes what youre thinking

when your subconscious is whirring away,deconstructing arboretuminto its roots.You are, you were, you isits aspredictable as the path the water follows.

Rain. Sun. Melody is propelledthrough your earbuds by a conga lineof ones and zeros; no one knowsthe whole truth, how this happens.

That night, you can see Bowie was right

about the moonlight being serious, aboutthe red shoes and the blues, which makesyou wonder whos listening to your

silent trembling. The crickets couldntcare less, and the whole milk moonis much too busy being a whole note

to worry about your part in all of this.

[Reincarnation Instant Breakfast][humanize][harmonize]


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[Exercycle][demons][the voice]

[the echo alone]


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THE HAIRDRESSER EXPLAINSTHE HAIRDRESSER EXPLAINSTHE HAIRDRESSER EXPLAINSTHE HAIRDRESSER EXPLAINS

in no uncertain terms that she can,

in fact, she willtell your fortuneby reading the clippings of hairthat fall to the floor around you.

Her fingers could be crossed.

She was careful to cupher hand around your earwhile washing your hair.

Its hard to know whats real these days.

You need a shower before you can tellif shes right, if it looks alright,if youre still yourself.

[the backdrop of satellite radio][the scissors rhythm][the syllables rhythm][Polaroid][avoid eye contact]

[her promise][her elbow][yourself]


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THE WINDTHE WINDTHE WINDTHE WIND

is so strong it rips the pants off the boy,

makes him cry. He stands therein his underwear, half in shock,half aware that this is his new name,his true identity, revealed by nature,incontrovertible. He wishes he werea trick candle, wishes he hadntwasted his third wish on that kite.

[exposed][frozen][the question of destiny][photographic memory][memory, sculpted][sense]


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THE YELLOW BIRDTHE YELLOW BIRDTHE YELLOW BIRDTHE YELLOW BIRD

is a prizefighter, is like a logo

for an energy drink. Its songis a metaphor for somethingeven smaller.

In thirty years, Ive never seenanother like itsour candy feathers,an Elmers Glue bottle top for a beak.

Which begs several questions.

Im happy enough to read a bookall by myself, sip some juicewhile the featherweight skiesget ready to rumble to knockout.

[the obsolescence of nature][its tiny eyes][coloring book][yellow-bellied][alone][float]

[sing]


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UNDER THE PORCHUNDER THE PORCHUNDER THE PORCHUNDER THE PORCH

a jar of pennies is believed to be buried.

Or was it a box of rare baseball cards?

The progress reportthree Cs and a D.

If youre not careful, youll uneartha dead pet instead of that bottle of Jim Beam.

Just before dinner, it gets crowdeddown there, all of us diggingfor whats missing.

[echolocation][love letters][a dirty dirty magazine]

[your mother, whose cooking leaves something tobe desired]

[missing][listen][the hiss of the snake]


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FOR A QUARTERFOR A QUARTERFOR A QUARTERFOR A QUARTER

I can coax the crane

up and over, let its clawhang open and waitingabove a sea of plush neon

then fly off like a hawkwhos given a family of micematching aneurysms.

Beware: my pocket changeturns weak Greeks to stone,sends sidekicks running home,utility belts around their ankles.

Listen to the bald Irish girlI dont even want

what I havent got.

Please dont disturb me,plebesIve got somereruns to watch. This isthe one with the claw.

[Centipede][a seven-ten split][the locus of control][mind over matter][baseball hat, backwards][empire]


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WHENWHENWHENWHEN

I tell Tom Im reading Pynchon,

he says its about time,which is half true;the other halfis where it gets iffy.

The truth about truth is thatsometimes the pages get stuck.If the narrator gets unreliable,shell sleep until noon and assumeyou had the same dreams as her.

In the book, I end up findingsomething importantWashingtons name signedwith Jeffersons pen.

In real life, the penswears its a fraud,and the paper agrees.

[no return address]

[a magnifying glass][a guilty look on the TV][the real monotony][curse words]


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WHEN, INEVITABLY,WHEN, INEVITABLY,WHEN, INEVITABLY,WHEN, INEVITABLY,

the porcelain tub needs reglazing,

ask aroundthe contractor withthe whitest van isnt necessarilythe most trustworthy man.

Dont be afraid to checkthe tires for slow leaks,the tailpipe for rust.

[the counterclockwise nature of draining water][the clipboard][red jacket][yellow logo][exhaust][trust]

[rust]


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AFTER SUCCEEDINGAFTER SUCCEEDINGAFTER SUCCEEDINGAFTER SUCCEEDING

in building a better mousetrap,

she moves onto a self-salting bucket of popcornand a self-reflective lineof action figures.

Then she has to accept that her gift is gone.The garage door opener stops listeningto her questions.Or if it still listens,it has lost all interest in the answers.

Her husband comes home lateafter a night of dancing,smelling like everything but dancing,inventing excuses

for the ruby shoes hes wearing.

[filaments excited by electrons][the death of sudden death][nothing as unsubtle as lipstick stains][dreams of machines]

[transformer][Transtrmer][capacitor]


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IN CANADA,IN CANADA,IN CANADA,IN CANADA,

if you want to see The Karate Kid,

you have to pay to parkin the McLarens backyard.

Its well worth the twoonieto see the crane kick projectedon a queen-size sheet.

Mrs. McLaren will bring a bagof microwave popcornright to your car,

but she always overcooks it,trying to getthat last kernel.

[paint the fence][first kiss][burnt][imperfect][the word maybe]


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THE WORLD MAY BE A MESSTHE WORLD MAY BE A MESSTHE WORLD MAY BE A MESSTHE WORLD MAY BE A MESS

but who has the time to worry about

the uneven soles of some strangers shoes?

Find a slope to stand on, I say.Is it a crime to man the handlebars

of your own moustache?Im not the first dead white man,

and I wont be the last. How manyof us ghosts of the past are losing sleep

over the problems of the present,haunting newsrooms to wail about

whales and fuel cells? If the planet

cant survive, let Darwin do his thing.

When that fat lady sings, youre deadI dont give a shit what the thunder said.

[Neros fabled fiddle]

[Dharma][drought][give up][simple thighs][remote control]


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IT TURNS OUTIT TURNS OUTIT TURNS OUTIT TURNS OUT

the swing set was always so small;

its the memory that makes it big.And so the whole playground,

and so on. And when did I learnthe importance of being important?The apparent lies about giants felled

with well-aimed stones, ants whocan carry plants bigger than ants?Maybe its really about the way

the paint was peeling, the feel of the rust,the squeal of the swinging itself. In truth,its the slant of it that stands out.

[swing set as arrow, pointing up][an upset stomach][off-white lies][grown men and women on bicycles][an age of bigness][short poems]


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ITITITITS OKAYS OKAYS OKAYS OKAY

to stop at a caf or a convenience store

for a bottle of juice; its a nice day,and some juice might make it nicer.Try to ignore the orphans, their parade,their bullhorn refrains, all the bloodtheyve written their demands in.Last week, it was the minimum wage.Next week, animal rights will beall the rage. Still, it might not beprudent to pop open the bottle untilafter theyve all passed. Then, fromthe park bench, it will be safe to saywhat you mean, under your breath,so as not to be seen as an agitator.Enjoy your juice. Its June first.

[queen-size sheets][police][papaya][near riot][sodium citrate][Boston Common]

[the new democracy][old excuses][subway music]


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TALK WITH METALK WITH METALK WITH METALK WITH ME

eurythmically. Cut your hair severely

and look me straight in the eyewhen you tell mewhat needs to be done.

Im no stranger to a pitchforkand a nondescript sedan.Im not afraid to admit that grey skiesmake me an anathematic man.

Pain hurts me if its my pain.The rain doesnt carewhere it falls,who it touches.

I can be that rain,

the voice whispering the worst advice.

[steel][the kill][sinking][lightningless thunder]

[another kind of devotion][flesh][ash]


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NO ONE KNOWSNO ONE KNOWSNO ONE KNOWSNO ONE KNOWS

when the body will wash up on shore, but it will.

It will still have a tattoo of a star in the vicinityof its appendectomy scar, which will helpthe authorities narrow down the possibilities.Hold my hand. Lets pray for the body together.Lets remember the struggles the body survived,then the mercy that brought us all here. Comewith me, all the way to the end of the pier.See, the volleyball nets are already starting toslice the salty wind into french fries, the bodyalready accepting its fate as cotton candy.

[wet sand][to handle the paperwork][the friends of the body]

[the lack of friends][gossamer, but sweeter][Sunday][Monday]


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GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE,GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE,GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE,GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE,

would he line up all the cells

in precisely the same way?

Penny wonders if Walt wouldstill kill Bambis mother or

if this time hed at least havethe heart to show us the hunter.

She likes her flipbooks betterin reverse, her hands letting the

engine idle as long as she likes.Life is a game of give-and-take

maybe Mickey should turn those

magic beans back into his cow,

make the most of the loaf hes got,skip the oaf and all his gold.

Next time, maybe the old magicwill be digitally restored.

Maybe the Mutoscope wont letthe men know what the butler saw.

Penny clicks, drags the eraser acrossher screen until all her ideas are gone.


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[corruption of the young]

[Song of the South][pinball plungers][Alcor Life Extension Foundation][wireless mouse]


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Rob MacDonaldRob MacDonaldRob MacDonaldRob MacDonald lives in Boston and is the editor of the online journal Sixth Finch.His poetry has appeared in Octopus, Hanging Loose, Tears in the Fenceand

Beacon Street Review. He can be contacted at [email protected].


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Illustrations by Erik Otto

Scantily Clad Press, 2009

rob macdonald-last new death

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