Kafka, Smashed
by Bill Yarrow
history IS the glazing!
heredity IS the frame!
I AM the glass!
(and time, TIME is the chisel)
today TIME took me out of the frame…
today TIME scraped away the roughened putty…
I was lifted
(but gingerly!)
r
i
into the a
without my frame I was B
E
S
I
D
E
myself!
why was I SCRAped?
why TAKen out?
am I BROken?
have I lost some ACTual glass?
perhaps I am only being transported not for replacement but for repair
perhaps I am only being transported not for replacement but for
perhaps I am only being transported not for replacement but
perhaps I am only being transported not for replacement
perhaps I am only being transported not for
perhaps I am only being transported not
perhaps I am only being transported
perhaps I am only being
perhaps I am only
perhaps I am
perhaps I
perhaps
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Author's Note
This poem appeared in The Brown Boat
Loved this in The Brown Boat and I love it here.*
Time's a bitch. And a chisel.
Love this kind of experiment in general, and this one really works for me.
a i r into the air of the page is especially new for me. BESIDE falling puts bedside to mind. The disappearing sentence also excels. In the 80s I tried that very form (is it a recognized form?) with the question: "What are we going to do today, oh, boy?"
Exceptional form throughout, Bill. Opens many levels for reading the piece. Great use of repetition in the closing. Despite the final standard's focus on diminishing possibilities, the poem is liberating.
Oh but YES! **
Well, perhaps. Ya never know. *
Amanda, Gary, Ann, Sam, Jeffrey, and Jake--thank you, all, for reading and commenting.
(but gingerly!)
I like it.
Thanks, Sara!