After Sylvie and Bruno
He thought he saw a brigantine
kowtowing to a swell:
he looked again and found it was
a runny Neufchatel.
But this is what I need, he said,
I’ve still some Zinfandel.
He thought he saw a coat-of-arms
perform a pas de deux:
he looked again and found it was
a rutting caribou.
I didn’t join the dance, he said,
as I don’t know kung fu.
He thought he saw Queen Guinevere
sauteeing escargots:
he looked again and found it was
a game of tic-tac-toe.
Embarrassed as I was, he said,
I blew the row of O.
He thought he saw a Zapotec
conducting a quartet:
he looked again and found it was
a videocassette.
I have no VCR, he said,
there’s no electric yet.
He thought he saw a frankfurter
delivering a wall:
he looked again and found it was
his phenobarbital.
There’s no AA just yet, he said,
but screw the alcohol.
Terese Coe‘s poems and translations have appeared in Poetry, Threepenny Review, New American Writing, Measure, and in the UK, the TLS, Poetry Review, New Walk, and many other journals, including anthologies. She has published two books of poems, and the latest is Shot Silk from White Violet Press. For more information, please visit her Wikipedia page.