from THE SPOONLIGHT INSTITUTE

3.

Personality is only a persistent error
to mope like a monument

where cooking takes the place of thought
and the geezer keeps coming back for more

We felt our names erased by peculiarity
as if the mask itself were speaking

about perfection of experience
We moved beyond the need for fact

by access to power
how nomad detectors fuel deal fever

and the satisfactory inexpensiveness of nowhere
seemed like a hand on your heart

or an outward sign of intended bleak
the horizon dissolving at dusk

Eternity of desire is
the bright side of oblivion

whichever comes first
since puppy love bebop madness

has no lessons for the eventless
and things bite back when fascination wears off

The early universe was perfectly fluid
but there isn’t as much standby

as there used to be
when the public preferred

their screens silent and
age is replaced by possessions

—

ALAN BERNHEIMER’S books include Billionesque, Café Isotope and Cloud Eight (collaborations with Kit Robinson). Recent work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2004, Chicago Review and Shiny. He lives in Berkeley.

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