On Not Making Arrangements

Organization is overrated: rivers
show us this.

They also decline telemarketers' calls
and aren't bothered

by prayer or phobias, which I believe
precludes them

from much but to look pretty
so that paintings

can be made. Scholars write about
the influence

of Huntington's Chorea on the slant
of the brush

or the exact moment when form
became the dorky

kid brother of function. In the oxbow,
answers collect

like algae. Perhaps there's another
kind of peace

to seek, and water can take you there.
The estuary disrobes

at low tide. You may vanish
in the sarcasm

of fluids one day. From your apartment
above the local pub,

you watch the bodies enter the rooms below.
They're aimless,

accidental. If you believe that orchestration
or planning

can take the place of beauty, perhaps
the joke's on you.

Copyright © 2010 Margot Schilpp All rights reserved
from Copper Nickel
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission