At night sometimes the big fog roams in tall
from the coast and away tall on the mountain road
it stands without moving while cars wander along

I took the trip just to try it
in spite of warnings from friends
about over-cooked borsht, dreary

started from unpretentious beginnings
and hasn't, in fact, come very far along—
still occupies the back wall of the bedroom,

Model C-24,
developed exclusively for us
by a team of expert engineers

The Man With the Lepidoptera on His Ass

stands, face to the wall,
butterfly to the camera, needled
back there forty years ago.

When the movie theatre closed
we decided to stay.
It was depressing, at first,

In Bible Class I stared at a colored print
Of Michelangelo's The Last Judgment.
I looked at the swirling bodies drawn up

Four easy hours from San Francisco, yes
The sitting mallards tip like steel-plate ducks;
Between them, clay-pipe fishes leap and pop

Although the field lay cut in swaths.
Grass at the edge survived the crop:
Stiff stems with lateral blades of leaf.

I have a gift for you.
Please open it now
For inside you will find the words