A poem a day in April from Rutgers English PhD students and friends.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

III

A churchy subway ad quoting Emerson made me cry on a moving train


I will confess neither quote nor train


But imagine William H. Macy at the bar in Magnolia


But deist instead of gay


If you fall while you’re dancing it can look just like dancing


And if you scream while you’re sleeping it can seem still like sleeping


And if you dance while you’re screaming you can really get it on


But selfish instead of deist


And lonely instead of Andy alone

4 comments:

  1. Me too.

    There's already an Emerson motif going on 'round here, but nobody seems to want to quote him.

    All I can remember about deism is 'giant eyeball.' High school English or maybe Emerson?

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  2. It took me a really long time to understand that "deist" meant "deist." Like the time I saw an ad for batteries and I was like "REHnewALL? What the hell is that?" I thought "deist" was a made-up word and then I thought it was a reference to one of Becca's teachers and then I thought it was the twin of singer-songwriter (?) Feist.

    I like how often Andy is a named character in these poems. So Shakespearean!!!

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  3. i know this subway sign.

    next time i need to scream, i will remember to dance.

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