I am spooked by the bluebells and the silent harp while
passing down Western Avenue and seeing the tombstones
placed flat instead of upright upon the cemetery lawn: our decent
modernity not wanting to upset us with Finalities while we
pay 22% interest on our credit cards.
I follow the street on down
feeling wonderful that I do not appear to be lost.
we need our landmarks (like cemeteries), we need our
liquor and our liabilities.
we need so many things we think we do not
need.
strangely then, as I drive south, I begin thinking about
THE WORLD IS SQUARE, INC. , an institution which meets and
discusses the fact that: the world is square and the North Pole is at
the CENTER of the SQUARE and holds everything from sliding
over the edge and that the EDGE is really a WALL OF
DARKNESS AND ICE and that nothing or nobody can go through
and that
when we THINK we are circling the globe we are only
CIRCLING the SQUARE, finally arriving back
where we began.
I wait at a signal, the light turns green and I move on
thinking, well, maybe the planets we believe are round are
illusions, and the moon and the sun, they are really square
too.
well, you can't rule anything out; I vote for round
but I still realize that it wasn't too long ago when
EVERYBODY thought the answer was SQUARE.
I stop at another signal, wait, while being held from falling
over the EDGE OF DARKNESS AND ICE by the North Pole standing in the
CENTER of the SQUARE.
the light changes, I drive on, turn left, go a few blocks, turn
right, go a block or so, turn left, go a block, turn right, then
a left and I am at my driveway, turn in, dive slowly up to
the garage
past the tangerine tree and the tangerines are round but
the garage door is square and I am still spooked by the
bluebells and the silent harp
cut the engine
get out
stand up
still alive.
I move along the walk.
god, things are getting interesting again: they say there are
bottomless craters at the North Pole and deep in the earth live
Creatures from Outer Space
down there
in a marvelous, beautiful and peaceful Kingdom, I move toward the
door, make ready to open it, not at all sure of what will be
waiting on the other sidethere is always this gnarling
apprehension
generally but not always warranted, and as the North Pole holds me
from falling off either the Curve or the
Edge
I push open the wooden wall and enter, ready and not ready