"Travis & Iris," "The Government wants to see your data," and "Dig"
Travis & Iris
Belief entered into as if
it were the back seat
of a taxi. “Just drive”
she said, & used her glasses
to push the hair back
off her forehead. Movement,
or the method of. Conveyance
is so misleading. Could say.
The refrigerator stopped
& the elephants got out. Or.
Hollies’ song. Riding around
on a carousel. None of that.
Instead. Give directions. Sit back.
Get there. Pay the price.
The Government wants to see your data
The insurance needs of
Mississippi hospitals &
other regional health care
providers are both search-
able on your smartphone
& satisfied by a blue T-
shirt. It is very strange to
walk through there & see
robots & algorithms in black
& saffron dhotis. Demand
for the conflicting conun-
drums of privacy—liveli-
hoods threatened or liberty
offered—is high this year.
Dig
Take comfort
in, not the
small things
but the familiar.
Return to raw
Miles, those first
pick-up bands
that occasionally
found Coltrane
in there, equally
raw. Or the
Sherlock Holmes
stories. Bach for
the first time,
de Chirico &
Hieronymous
Bosch. Byzantine
plazas, gardens
of earthly delights
which were
previously un-
known but so
familiar. Ancestral
memories, the
starting places at
which you still stop
by, to stand still
for a moment,
focus, & come
out of ready
to hit the
ground running.
Mark Young was born in Aotearoa / New Zealand but now lives in a small town in North Queensland in Australia. He is the author of more than sixty books, the most recent of which are with the slow-paced turtle replaced by a fast fish, published by Sandy Press in May, 2023, & a free downloadable chapbook of visuals & poems, Mercator Projected, published by Half Day Moon Press in August 2023. Mark recommends the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.