Bound Verse

Sixty Poems by D.W. Bohn
Arranged in Ten Sextets

Sextet I Sextet II Sextet III Sextet IV Sextet V Sextet VII Sextet VIII Sextet IX Sextet X

Sextet VI

forgotten geography

the people who gave these places names
have long since gone

most of their meager descendants
are piling up empties
in the world of laverne and shirley
just like the rest of us

while it's true that a tiny few have tried
to reclaim the names
by affixing them
to gleaming palaces
filled with games of chance

and there are still some spry old women
who lately wonder
at the inviting sound of places
called big water or spirit fire

no one really remembers how these places
came to bear the names they bear
or why

social studies

in the theater
scientists researching
mate selection in humans

white crow

through a noonday haze
that made the neighbors' eyes water
she heard a bird fly

in a rush of thoughts
she mistook for rare insight
she called the crow white

invalid knowledge 1

the ones
who can no longer walk
are most keenly aware
that liberation
is achieved
step by step

black hole theory 1

we believe
that all manner of things
have arrived
and will ever after abide
in an unlit place
that we know no one will ever see

we hope
that we might someday come to see
a stream of matter
that seems to be flowing steadily
towards this place
but which we know will have already reached
its permanent and invisible home
by the time we see it

we expect
that through the sight of such a stream
we'll be able to tell everyone
where the place is
so that they can avoid it

impeachable logic

from the precipice
comes the accusation
it's not about sex
it's about lying under oath

the people below reply
worthy accusers
leap over these cliffs
it won't be about falling
it'll be about flying through the air


© 1999, 2001 by D.W. Bohn

Sextet I Sextet II Sextet III Sextet IV Sextet V Sextet VII Sextet VIII Sextet IX Sextet X

1 These poems have been accepted for publication in the January 2000 issue of Niederngasse, The Journal of Winning Poetry

1