Borgo Was 29 on His Birthday
by Ann Bogle
when the long arm of the law
hit his parade in the right hand
and brought his trombone pedal
to a dead stop on Mifflin Street
Buy this bag of fluits
to take home to Wisconsin
now I'm in Wisconsin
in the Constitution
where I now live
in a little crater of its map
for all time
which is now
Borgo was 29 and a half
when he learned Flench
for all time
for all time
which is eleven hours
out of midnight or another way
to say it is: avec
Borgo was 31 when he saw
that tall cancer-causing arial
she-devil (but really not, he was thinking)
Betty named Borga
saying may prayers to no-God
—so forthrightly, too,
he liked her immediately.
Borga was 21 when she said
let's be Borgo
Okay, they said
And so they were
Borgo, or: The Tall People
Borgo said 1979
So Borga remembered 1979
for him, just in case,
for what if:
a driver license
or an act of god
or a marriage license
or even a lease
for an apartment
you never know, she said
so he said, okay
you remember,
so she did.
Borgo was an age
beyond remembering
when he put his black horn rimmed
glasses in his tool drawer
next to his tiny set
of screwdrivers and bought wire rimmed gold
Easier to break, he said.
Consumerism, she said,
and that failure of hers
to spend enough
became a next desire
to earn close to nothing
Each project, each signing, each book,
each line of verse, song, every idea
that could turn a promise
Borgo put the whole heart in that
at 51.
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Author's Note
Dog barks up a tree at the apple left in it under a deerslim moon, 18 poems (1983–2007), designed by Kai Fierle Hedrick for Orium Press of the Dusie Kollektiv, 2008-2009.
http://www.dusie.org/issuenine.html
“Borgo Was 29 on His Birthday” (2001), ~*~ W_O_M_B ~*~ , Michelle Detorie, Ed., issue one, January 15, 2007.
In honor of Bruce Johnson's 65th birthday today, January 15. I wrote the poem for his birthday in 2001. It was published by coincidence on his birthday in 2007. This year I will be 53 in May.
Other stories by Ann Bogle
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"Consumerism, she said,
and that failure of hers
to spend enough
became a next desire
to earn close to nothing"
It's great to see your poetry side, Ann.
The echo at the beginning of stanzas adds a certain emotional weight to the piece. Everything circles - all things connect. I like that. Good piece. *
Wow, Ann, this is exceptional. Sam articulated what I felt, too, reading this. That you brought it all around, which gave this poem its wholeness and impact.
This is so vivid for me: Borgo was an age
beyond remembering
when he put his black horn rimmed
glasses in his tool drawer
next to his tiny set
of screwdrivers and bought wire rimmed gold"
And the last stanza is so powerful.
Great work.
Brilliant, moving and all-compassing. *
I meant all encompassing, of course.
*, Ann. I love your close.
Yes to all of the above and I also love this at the beginning
"now I'm in Wisconsin
in the Constitution
where I now live
in a little crater of its map"*