Crispin Best
history poem
history poem
in the beginning
as you may have guessed
the lonesome clouds
casting birthmarks on the earth
before long eggs crack
and out struggle
baby pterodactyls
over the mountains
mountains
the water shines
a clean silver water
and the wet quiet sand
the new world stilt-legged horse
the forest horse
the true horse
more clouds
fewer clouds
bronze
given time
even birds grow
cucumbers become musty
the half-frozen field will thaw
the invention of doors
until suddenly
an alpine goat nibbling a bad man's head
both surprised
the bad man returns to the city
he is not even bad
the goat looks at grass
we spend our lives in the city together
like unsettling grapes
all of us
peanut butter comes and goes
the tides of people are endless
looking fantastic on their chosen city bus
a ladybird darkens on the bad man’s cistern
when he looks
spiders dying of old age
everywhere in his city
city pigeons still tortured in dreams daily
now sometimes even found
with an emerald instead of a head
in his city home
while the girl is there
she smells of oranges
when she is awake
the bad man is sick
of the world revolving around him
before long
it is dark in a language
that we don't understand
our solar panels freeze
and thaw
grasshoppers swarm every 17 years
the end of phobos
the proper motion of stars
waves turn white
as they hit the beach
