Read 8 of the poems - Longing for Populous Empathy

Dan Tarnowski
Longing
for
Populous
Empathy
(Preview)
Lack of Press
Contents
4
Poems 2009–2011
4. Transgressions in the
Liberty Bell Smoothie
7.
Glass Boroughs
10
Charcoal Sun
13
Love/session
(2004–2008)
(2014)
Transgressions
in the Liberty
Bell Smoothie
SPRAWLEDOUT INTHEPARK
last night i lied in a field
the red lights of cars were smearing
i could barely keep my eyes open,
barely lift my head
it was windy
i watched the amalgamation
of the tree tops surge and sway
as one green unit
one animal
with many legs
i watched a thin pine-needled
branch dance over my head
with a familiar rhythm
like the waves of a beach
my head was empty
i was helpless
but i knew no one could hurt me there
or tell me to leave
and i looked around,
unable to speak,
feeling the perplexity
of a child
2
all my childhood memories
are meaningless
like when i went fishing with my dad
and the pier where we fished
was too populated with fish
or our bait was too good
because i kept catching the same kind of fish
over and over
until i got bored
and i cast my line out
with the fish still on the hook
like a really heavy bobber
and the hook ripped through the fish’s lip
and i saw the fish spiral in the air
glinting
then hit the cerulean waves
Glass Boroughs
5:00 SHADOW
as i shave beside the open window
with my dress shirt on a hanger on the doorknob
the breeze carries a chill
soon summer will end
back when my face was creaseless
i’d fantasize in these moments
about long shadows
cast by the low sun
but this evening
i feel more like those shadows
separating from the sun like oil
getting so close that they disappear
WALKED AROUND
I didn’t understand why
I couldn’t get into the studio
And gave up. I walked around soaking
In beauties of the weather trying to feel
Something transcendent run through my body,
And sometimes when the sound of a bell matched up
With a stunning visual I felt a shock, but mostly I felt
Underwater or under jell-o and walked around bored wishing
I was in love with a blonde
Charcoal Sun
CHANGE IS GOOD AND HARD
I had a dream in which someone asked me where I would go if I could
go anywhere in the world. I blurted out the word “love” without fully
considering his question.
10
STARVING
it’s the beginning of spring though still chilly
and we’re sitting in a garden.
i want to rub my bare arm against yours.
it looks like i have lanugo,
a dense cottony growth of hair,
common among anorexics.
i’m not anorexic, i’m just thin,
though i am starving for you.
11
Love/session
1
I put ur favorite drinks in my fridge
Because I’m not afraid to love
Waiting for you
Night fell
I’m drinking those drinks
And txting my friends
Because I’m not afraid to
forget you
I see her face and legs and breasts
But, my friend, I love your heart
13
2
Cultural moments like these:
The many lightbulbed ball
Skulking its way to zero hour
Like a heavy leaf
Freeze us in time
Inches before we kiss
Strangers
That will hurt us
Long after
They love us
We share our heads
Right when we lose our heads
Total up the amount of time I’ve spent
Deciding what to wear to work
Compared with the amount of time I’ve spent loving
My heart broke once
On the day I became an intellectual
And twice on the day I fell in love
With human flesh
14