That That (Made in Michigan Writer Series) 0814340652, 9780814340653

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THAT THAT

Mad e i n Mi c h i g a n W r i te r s Se r i e s General Editors

Michael Delp, Interlochen Center for the Arts M. L. Liebler, Wayne State University Advisory Editors

Melba Joyce Boyd Wayne State University Stuart Dybek Western Michigan University Kathleen Glynn Jerry Herron Wayne State University Laura Kasischke University of Michigan Thomas Lynch Frank Rashid Marygrove College Doug Stanton Keith Taylor University of Michigan A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu

THAT THAT Poems by Ken Mikolowski

Way n e S tat e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s Detroit

© 2015 by Ken Mikolowski. Published by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. ISBN 978-0-8143-4065-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-8143-4066-0 (ebook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2014953090 Publication of this book was made possible by a generous gift from The Meijer Foundation. Additional support was provided by Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and National Endowment for the Arts.

For Wendy and Anton

THAT THAT

THIS is

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THIS is too

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THIS IS THIS and that’s that

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NOT that that that that

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POEM you can’t just write anything and call it a poem

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BLACK WORDS surrounded by white space

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ARS NICE POETICA a poem must be not mean

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SHE THINKS she has a mind of her own

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GETTING OLD gets old real quick

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WELL FED torso more so

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BALD no more hair there

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VIRGIN intact in fact

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FAT MAN BLUES I’ve grown so lonesome since my belly’s grown some

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NO MORE and no less

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PALINDROME I love you you love me

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YOU AND ME and every thing

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SOMETIMES I don’t think of you for hours

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POETICS makes bedfellows estranged

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REALITY not really

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AUTHORITY never mind

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CORN FIELD each row opens as you pass by

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YOU ARE what you art

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ANYTHING CAN BE ART not everything is

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BRAD Pitt

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NONE of the above

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WATER drip drop until not

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SANITATION for the nation

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I HAVE no idea

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HOMAGE I’ve never met a deadline I’ve ever met yet

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WHY I AM NOT A NEW YORK POET Detroit

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NOTHING ELSE but to say that

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PERMITTED TO FEEL they felt

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SHORT NOVEL he always right she left

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LOVE POEM man women

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THIS IS a short poem

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THIS IS not a poem

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THANK YOU for not being an asshole

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THOSE THREE LITTLE WORDS you are drunk

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WOULDN’T IT BE WONDERFUL if the whole thing were like the good part

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STOP ME if you’ve heard this one before

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OCTOPUS rhinoceros

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THE MEANING IS SOMEWHERE so we go everywhere

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OUTSIDE the three month summer dies

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YOUR LIP ON IT is it itself

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COME ON just drop your pants this ain’t romance

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SMUT is just tums spelled backward

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NO MATTER HOW MUCH they lower the bar in poetry I always manage to slip in under it

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NOW that you’ve read this it’s ok to turn the page

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ECONOMIC CRISIS buy low stay high

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LOVE thank you call again

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LAMENT I am not now nor have I ever been

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SOME DAYS death crosses my mind

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WAY TO GO gone

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ON TIME we become late too soon

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LIFE here now then not

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REINCARNATION here now and then again

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NOT THE BIRD but the shadow of the bird flying

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NOW soon to be long ago

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OUR HOUR so short we long for more

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MY POEMS so short we long for more

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QUANTUM POEM here now and there now unless you peek

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REMEMBER ME humorously posthumously

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REMEMBER me

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I forget

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IT matters

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NOTHING can replace poetry in my life and one day surely it will

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JUST AS YOU ARE ABOUT TO GRASP IT it’s over

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ABSENCE neither here nor there

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THERE IS no that there

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THERE IS no more

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