ADVICE
A friend calls me who’s crying about a boyfriend
I can’t say much to help because -
Because most of my time is quiet and I like flat land
Because I prefer pencils
Because I still don’t have a microwave
Because all of my aunts were unmarried
Because I wear sheets like sarongs
Because I’m stooped
Because I’ve never been really poor or quick
Because I’ve never learned to order pizza out
Because I think tone of voice is important
And because wherever I go I always pack a vase
I can’t give much advice because
Those kinds of relationships
Are mysteries to me
Like sugar dissolving or cars that backfire.
—Hiram Larew
HERE’S SOMETHING
The very best books in the world are the ones
That put sun up your back
When you are up a tree ladder
The best are the ones most like crumbs from a sandwich
When you’re still hungry
The most important ideas to learn from
Go only half way no more
And they taste
For better or worse
Like mustard.
It’s better to read more and then less
Button then unbutton
In fact what becomes clear in time
Is that it’s good to become wild in a way
That resembles a pigeon’s coo
Because nothing we come to know or love
Holds smoke in
Or echoes.
The tallest school around here
Is when we realize
That there’s a chance out there
But can’t touch it can’t even come close
That’s when we turn into something awkward
And start to believe that
The most wonderful place in the world is in lettuce
That’s why more and more
We like everything upside down.
—Hiram Larew