Off the Hook Ode

Even if this wine glass can’t hold wine,

it looks in one piece. Such satisfaction

when we think we can fix something.

No need to make a long list of fuck-ups

and regrets, it’ll look like everyone else’s.

It’s not like there’s a shortage of explanations.

By the fourth day, the roses in the vase

are experts at falling apart but they were

experts before while they were connected

to the dirt. So were the beetles. Maybe

only details matter: what the flames felt

before you knew they were flames, bits

of the porous world, the words that made up

your intimate code. How have we gotten so snarled?

Sometimes thunder promises rain but it’s wrong

and birds fly the wrong direction so why

should you worry about turning to frost

in summer? Even the wind contradicts itself.

Nothing can be fixed.