Coming and / or Going

Todd Fuller

“The planet groans every time

it registers another birth”

—Paul Simon

: The earth / bends / on its axis. And so

You have (at this moment) taken your place

Inside the revolving door.

: Meanwhile, complicated / aeronautical /

Circumstances push the moth to its implosion

Against a murderous, yet unassuming, sedan.

: (Within the enclosed space of paper and

Thought, that which you think / and type /

Could [just as easily] be newly sewn raven’s

Wings echoing / or breathing / against

Borders, or something to that effect).

: And a son is born / with new mixtures

/ Or equations / of blood that irritate, ignite,

And, of course, enflame old colonial scars.

: And a holy man is interred / (because holy

Men [and Women] still roam from one bruise,

Or / purpose / to another) among the masses.

: This is every new life sliding / swimming /

Flying / & hatching its way into the (blinding,

Ever intoxicating) revolution.

: Conversely, this very hour will be the only

One of its kind with each of its / ridiculous

/ Seconds vanishing against your active or

: Inactive palms. / And so, we are all coming

And / or going at a pace that belongs to some

Kind of astronomy / with its fluid (& ancient)

: Rotation. / Here in Oklahoma (the Indian /

One) a brown body is snuffed of its life / with

The all-too-eager snap of a trigger / and ?s

: (Of course) remain lingering on barroom

Air & smoke & fist-to-cuffs for generations

To come. / Perhaps you are terrified

: Of crossing bridges / or vast spaces / or,

Maybe turning in circles makes you weak

/ In the knees—not like when you spun in

: Abandon, twenty years ago. Since then,

The list of those expired stretches from / you

To the end of your recollections. Likewise,

: The list of those learning to negotiate an

Erection and (their own) breasts extends

From hand to hand and beyond their lips.

: And so, here we are (the seven billion) stuck

In the door (and all in the same neighbor-

Hood) while balancing nickels on our

: (Ashy) elbows. Everyday: It’s coffins and

Cradles. / Out of the womb and / or into

The ground. / Otherwise, you and I are

(Momentarily)

: Caught in the middle: between two / worlds

& The possibility of your next / precisely

Calculated / glance. And what we all / see

: Next / the taking and leaving of first and

Last breaths / is the precise equation of our

(Adding and subtracting) flesh.