Noah Eli Gordon


A Lost Whalebone Essay

The magazine says
structure falls
to a leaf &
outside watching says
structure fails plot
lines are perfect
when in doubt
ever curiously to
perform or simply
watch something
unfold & I’m
running in my best
Market Street
snowman a little
off to the side
a way to spell fashion
without falls
to the magazine
when someone
in New York
& someone
in Boston says it
matters are half
the heart in
the winter fallout
wearing shirts
says structure
makes the clock
dirty its hands
& the grotesque
light an afternoon
beaching itself
says brother is
too hard to love
substantial rash
on hind leg
& rush hour
lasting twice as
long says get
over it already
a real magazine
& a real soldier
kept with the
letters likes to
put on her jewelry
before going
to the store same
walk same
Market Street
where the stores
unfold & I’m
running in my best
suit of armor
though it’s colder
when someone
in New York
says you’re not
my brother
don’t call me
brother no one
cares on the
subway I read
your book &
in Boston love
too is twice
as long is grotesque
winter a button
not mine
& I’m running
in my perfect
shirt & the
magazine says
outside there’s
a day shining
put on your
jewelry soldier
a staple through
my thumb
my dirty hands
afterward
says curiously
fashion just let
it falls whose
boots hung over
Market Street
full of potholes
someone in
New York & yet
engines made
more engines
& I’m running
perfectly outside

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