This poem is taken from PN Review 219, Volume 41 Number 1, September - October 2014.
Two Prose Poems
A Tragicomedy in Five Acts, Presented to Great Applause
Utopia, Arcadia
1
The 3:19 passes through a cutting and across a matchstick bridge above a glassy river. It’s running right on time. It continues through a level crossing and comes to a halt in a station equipped with bookstall, milk churns and a motionless porter.
...
- Honey. Apples. Summer in an orchard. A treatise on gardens.
- A grey wolf is observed among the hollyhocks. The donning of a mask. Manifold complications and a misplaced key.
- Thunder. Catastrophe. Tempests and earthquakes. An old man jumps from a very high bridge.
- Multiplying disguises. Scenes of unbridled lust. The gaoler with a rubber nose. The beautiful animal is tormented in its golden cage. Seventeen rapes, five eviscerations, and the destruction of several large cities.
- Providential manipulations and rearrangements. Thoughts on fatherhood. Three unlikely marriages and a humble restitution. After a short pause for refreshments, the whole thing starts all over again.
Utopia, Arcadia
1
The 3:19 passes through a cutting and across a matchstick bridge above a glassy river. It’s running right on time. It continues through a level crossing and comes to a halt in a station equipped with bookstall, milk churns and a motionless porter.
...
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