the lecture on dust
(whose dusty notes are these?
whose ears are burning?)
when your house is burning
learn to love fire
a fiery phraseology my forte
ashes to ashes, I tell them
no fortress can save you
however crenelated, storied
past and future the same story
we live in a continuous present
—thus I make a present of awful
platitudes, grammatical tenses
their tense faces shining up
like sunlight on offal
lighten up, I tell them, face facts
or head for the doors
each is locked, to head or heart
doom’s done deal, who struck it?
open your eyes: all thought
however striking, comes undone
neither first thought nor last is best
transparent eyeball, lifted stone
the stone in each chest lifts
splits, repeats: be mine be mine
the mined kingdom is now
and this is, this is, this is it