Articles of Faith

I used to like Nicole Kidman

now I like Kirsten Dunst.

Jennifer Aniston is a schmuck

but Brad’s sure a rotter

even if I was the only one who liked him in Troy

he had the Achillean pout right.

I much prefer the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s

environmental warning

to the Invisible Man’s exploration of neurosis

although in the update with Kevin Bacon

I like the nudity.

When it says at the bottom in small print

language, gore and nudity

I like that

but the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

made me cry on an airplane,

got to be from lack of cabin pressure.

Grown men should not wear shorts in airports

unless they are baggage handlers.

Bearded men should never play the flute.

Most heavy metal music is anger over repressed homoerotic urges

is the sort of idea that got me beat up in high school.

There is nothing sadder than a leaf

falling from a tree then catching an updraft higher than the tree

then getting stuck in a gutter.

Symbolism is highly suspicious because it can’t be helped.

There is always something you can never touch, never have

but there it is, right in front of you.

The opposite is also true.

Even though the bells are ringing

your glissando is private.

Truth labors to keep up with the tabloids.

Every word is a euphemism.

Every accident is organized by a secret system

and you’re telling me life isn’t personal?

The starfish disgorges its stomach to devour its prey.

A network of deceptions festoons the cortege.

An X-Acto knife cuts a kingfisher from an oil company ad.

In the beginning the divine creator wrote 999 words and created

999 demigods to

translate each word into 999 words and 999 angels to

translate each translated word into 999 words and 999

exalted priests to translate each translated word of the

translated words into 999 words and we are an error in

the transcription of one of those words.

Vows exchanged in an aerodrome.

Ovals without consequence.

Masterpiece wrapping paper.

The hurricane makes of homes exploded brains.

Central Intelligence Agency.

The early explorers were extremely agitated men, antisocial,

violent, prone to drink.

Demons walk the earth.

Says so on a T-shirt.

We are born defenseless.

It’s a miracle.