Discrepancy

I like getting dirty
—but not staying that way
I like to go out drinking
—but not tasting those 10 or 12 beers
the next morning

I like laughing at a dirty joke
—but not being the butt of one
I like writing poetry
—but not when I have nothing
in particular to say

It gets worse before
It gets any better
Failure is no concern of mine
Nobody knows about it

I like being right
—but not all the time.

Copyright © Paul Maggi 2003

28

Does the moon keep the ocean
From falling off the Earth?
I would miss the moon if it were gone
And revel in its power more
If there were two.

But it isn't the moon that
Keeps the oceans from falling off.
It pulls them off the shore
Dragging the water around, like a child,
The fat equator

A big wobbling bowl of Jell-O
The lunar washing machine tumbles back and forth.
Runs its course of push and pull
In a cycle of gravity and resistance,
Wax and wane

It's always falling towards us
Caught in a constant trap of motion.
Nature's weakest force
Is what keeps the universe balanced
And separated

The earth and the moon are the same
They say the moon was once
In the Pacific so does it surprise you that
It's trying to get back home
To the Sea?

Copyright © Paul Maggi 2003

Buk

this page
has been blank for over an
hour now. i've
been sitting
here
waiting
for something
to come
to me. something
true, something real
but
i don't like the racetrack
and i shouldn't be
drinking
(at 11:30 am)
though i know he would have been
and has. actually, i
just realized
that
it
doesn't
matter
what i want
to say. he's said it all before and now he's
dead.

Copyright © Paul Maggi 2003

Table

Under the table, there's
A crack in the linoleum
Where the dirt collects.
It's never clean and never
Will be, which is why
The table covers it from
Sight. But it gets in the
Way, all crooked on the
Kitchen floor, too close
To the oven and too far from
The countertop. It never
Gets moved around except
When the tear in the floor
Gets bigger and darker,
So we leave it in the way
And work around it,
Pretending like it's not a
Nuisance but that we want
It that way so the guests
Won't say, "Why not just
Move it over here?"
"Oh, no," we tell them.
"Over there is no good,"
As we show them how
Conveniently it functions
As off-center as it may be.
You see, we keep a lot of
Food on it, hot from the
Stove or fresh from the oven.
Why do you think we
Invite so many people to
Our house all the time?
If nobody shows up, then
There is no need for all the
Food, which would make
The absurdity all the more
Obvious and we would
Have to move the table and
See that crack on the floor.

Copyright © Paul Maggi 2003