Mirror With A Stetchy Beginning And No End
By: Jehangir Saleh
Written: October 2, 2007

1.
Walking downtown
massive structures
resist the temptations of gravity
I decide to believe I am happy
even though
I’m developing various diseases
and ignored the outstretched hand
of some homeless
too caught up in whether
happiness was something
I want to associate myself with

2.
with all the TV sets tuned to the same show
the 8th ward was a damp cave where revelation
was replaced by day-time soap opera dialogue
The door to your room was heavy, displeased
Letting out a deep, creaky groan
Informing the nurses
Someone was entering or trying to escape
There were no windows
(They had taken away the ability to regret)
You sat on a chair beside your unmade bed
Happy to see me, as always
Didn’t matter that you’d forgotten who I was

the foundations of the nursing home
persisted against
the collective voice
urging it to fall from within

3.
Line for WAITING FOR GODOT

4.
I’m not trying to say ‘this is who we have become’
It’s much worse: there’s no clear reflection, everything is possible

here I am hanging my dying friend’s
genitals on the wall

but close your eyes
try to remember what you believed.