Sandra Simonds

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

—pulled away from internet absorption
to spare the plants—pulled away from
the plants to spare the kids, pulled away from the kids
to spare the poetry—pulled away from the poetry
to spare the grid. Read that the CIA
funded Abstract Expressionism.

Ouch!

—thought of Rothko—do you remember
the strand of hair stuck in the paint
of his painting called “Highly Nervous, He Continued
to Drink and Smoke Incessantly” for I click
on the link “death” always first for thee
one day in the museum—either in LA or some
other major metropolitan city. Then for the ten
minutes, I allowed myself to listen to the news
on the car radio, some reports of ICE officers
removing a woman with a brain tumor from
a Texas hospital—taught my kid to walk to school.

SANDRA SIMONDS is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Orlando (Wave Books) and Further Problems with Pleasure (University of Akron Press).