all these things that so much matter

[parch]

I could steal the michelangelos, anything I can count,
places where you read in the morning, little notes you put on shopping lists,
I could steal your after breakfast newspaper, and touch it up, just a little,
put it between my leonardos, hang it off my dante
and whisper it through your open morning mouth
free impression in the impression room, they don't know who's invited
free franklins in the printing room, he's too busy, no one will notice
I could steal my little ezra, my cuddly eliot, somebody's keepsake poem,
I could talk about the children
and I am the child, I do go forth, I am walking between the rooms,
coming and going, loud belching of michelangelo

shan't and won't, can't and don't
all after the aspiration
heaved up the heaven's slumber and left
there was money downtown in god's dirty socks
and giving to the poor
and all these things that so much matter

[Hannibal]

For some reason - this reminds me of your earlier stuff. Perhaps a bit more 'refined', in that it has this artsy tone kind of swimming through it.

But your old stuff always failed to make sense to me - as does this. Maybe I'm too dumb, maybe it's supposed to make sense only to you (or someone close to you); I don't know - but I read and re-read these things... even "back then" in your writing, your choice of words and the way in which you phrase things is what I enjoy. The message (whatever it may be) is lost on me, but that makes me read and read it again. I get a 'flow', a 'feeling' from your writing - in the way you structure things; and maybe that's the meaning, that structure is important but not so much the literal words?

I'm not sure - but I always enjoy reading these; little nuggets I always find in your works that hang with me like:

"and whisper it through your open morning mouth"

or

"coming and going, loud belching of michelangelo"

I don't know why, but those lines are like little nuggets of "ooh, I like that."

[parch]

you're not too dumb, and thanks for the reply. yes, I'm sure this doesn't exactly make sense.
I guess I don't often write to make sense, but I probably should.
if it isn't accessible, then that's a problem I should deal with.
thanks for the comments.

and if you wish:
in general, this poem, to me, was about the opportunity/ease there is to steal/recreate art for any artist who wishes to do so, and the last section concludes why this does or does not happen with the speaker.

some of this, was of course, also stolen/modified.

[Hannibal]

Since you put it that way (explaining what the piece is about) it makes much more sense upon re-reading it. The way you built it seems much more lighthearted than I originally thought; dunno if that is intended or not. I suppose the subject matter isn't so much so...

Regardless, I think one of the more beautiful yet problematic things are as you said, making things not accessible because it's hard to get a frame of context with what you're writing. I think even one sentence of clarity at the beginning or end would help tremendously to lift some of that veil of uncertainty. Of course, it might make it look like total poop and ruin it, I'm not quite sure.

Excited to see where this may go if it were to ever get revisions.