1.
On August 14th, 1971, when they arrest Jason Smith on Rose St.,
his neighbors don’t know he’s a subject
in the Stanford Prison experiment, and Jason himself
doesn’t know that within 36 hours of dunking his head
into that fake cop car, that he will have a mental breakdown
even though he keeps telling himself “this isn’t real.”
Daumier’s “The Third-Class Carriage.” This isn’t real.
Turnitin.com. This isn’t real.
Bingham’s “Fur Traders Descending the Missouri.”
This isn’t real. In solitary confinement he thinks
of his grandmother, Pearl, the only woman who
has loved him unconditionally
and finally recognizes Todd,
the guard, as the student who sits in the row
in front of him in Biochemistry. Our quiz will be on
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Pathétique,”
Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
On destiny, 35.
On disillusionment, 543.
On empires, 96. On imperialism, 467.
2.
Do you know how many of Karl Marx’s
children starved to death?
Yes, but he kept a maid.
Did you know two of his daughters
committed suicide?
Do you know the difference between pity
and compassion? My daughter is 30
pounds. This isn’t real.
Do you know the difference
between compassion and empathy?
I am bleeding.
It is easy to be empathic and lack compassion
but sometimes a person is compassionate and lacks
empathy. The limit case being a saint or
martyr. To write the most tender
poem for Karl Marx,
which includes the Torah or rather the light
of the Hebrew alphabet which casts
of Rembrandt’s wide-eyed, apple cider walls.
3.
Do not write “luminous glyphs” for it is
overly Romanic. Do not write
a love poem to Karl Marx
for you might lose your job.
Do not talk about compassion, for this is not
a temple. Do not use the word “tender”
for this is art and art must be
cold like money or fish. Do not
say you’re a Jew
for you never know who is reading.
Do not place the word “money” next to the word
“Jew” for people will think that all
you care about is money.
On patronage, 310. On pride, 59.
On reform, 331. I am shaking.
On scientific truth, 387.
I’m scared I will die.
4.
It has been fifteen years since my mother
tried to kill herself. There is no way
into the humanities. In the experiment, Todd
beats Jason. You can only follow
me so far, but when we get to the river, Horatio,
you will not be able to cross through my
particular hourglass: Ubermensch, 468.
Ulysses, 533. Un Chien Andalou, 552.
It is hard to believe that I found her.
It is hard to believe that I lived in that apartment
with my mother and sister.
It is hard to believe that I was at her side
in the hospital. The bourgeoisie
are so self-destructive!
That’s the real secret of the Communist
Manifesto. On the phone she says,
“Why do you think about things
that happened so long ago?”
Horatio also says, let the past
be the past, doomsday, doomsday.
Zeno, 343. Zeno, 2.
I’m scared and I’m bleeding.
Zen philosophy, 596.
Let the peasant in this painting reap
what she sows, and if nothing comes
of nothing, Zero, Zero, let the mother
of the third-class carriage’s weeping
hands over woven basket, infant
to the nipple, rest unseen.