1. Driving in circles
Same strip where
three neon bagels
stare across
a traffic signal:
another sign, lit red
optician’s spectacles,
starts us on Gatsby jokes,
remembering high school symbolism,
colors sayig
danger or rebirth.
2. Only Funny Until
The kids found a loophole
on the ban on gang colors
in school:
Santa hats.
3. Novelty Postcard
The squirrel nibbling a candy cane
in the park’s printed snow
holds it upright
(clarinet, microphone)
then sideways
(flute, corncob)
then runs it up an evergreen
away from laughing.
4. No Name for this
Roommates menstruating at the same time
is known as the McClintock effect.
My brother’s roommates appear one breakfast
all four in red sweaters.
5. Carbon tricks
Photosynthesis:
backwards respiration.
The heme molecule
in mitochondria and hemoglobin
is ring-shaped. If you replace
the middle iron atom
with magnesium, you get
chlorophyll.
6. Budget aphrodisiacs
Sugar fluoresces, wintergreen snaps
ultraviolet light when struck or bitten.
Atomic Fireballs burn cinnamon, then roll
slowly to sweetness, staining the tongue.
7. Last dance or, what you will
A papier mache fly circles the bar,
green bulb eyes glowing.
We drink from green bottles
under a green ceiling dragon,
dance below a replicated 50’s livingroom
tired of waiting for a good song.