Transmission
By Eileen Myles
I’m overcome
by the cruelty
of nature
no I mean
I’m with
it. And each
little capacity
it has
can’t be transferred
I mean
a spruce
can’t give
its oils to you
can it.
But that’s how
it grows
in the ab
sence of
technology
my thoughts
grow. My thoughts
grow among
trees
but I don’t
help them
though
I’m for them.
I’m for my
dog & inci
dentally
I feed
her but I
don’t see
her much.
Joe does.
Joe is
my friend
& also
a dog father
I don’t
help mountains
Mountains
help me
I know
the planet
is old
& splashy
sleep helps
me. Time
helps
me. My mother
helped
me. And
now she
is gone. She
also hurt
me so it’s
good that
she’s gone.
I can grow
different
in the
day or
three decades
in which
I’ve got
left
I can
grow toward
the mountains
sit in solidarity
with prisoners
or go
to jail. I’m not joking
I can
push different.
I want
to say
something
about my cunt.
Because
that’s
what you
ask. But
I am
alone. No
mother
no phone
just a notebook
& a cunt
& my thoughts.
I don’t
even think
my thoughts.
You do.
Source: Poetry (March 2018)