Two Poems by Joseph Hargraves

Hair

unfortunately
I was not
ordinary enough
for him
to love

is there
consolation
in that?

yes

he said
"you're immature
and afraid
of intimacy"

agreed

I told him
of Browning's
elective affinities

"not to love
is to condemn
ourselves"
I said

he understood
Elizabeth 's laudanum
habit
but not
Robert's theory

I suppose
he wanted
the art
student type:

rebellion
in
hairdos

someone
he could
comprehend
and comb



yesterday

yesterday
among a crowd of tourists
in a basement
I looked at
Monet's "Water Lilies"

fluorescent light
reflected
yellow whispering faces

I wondered
what was wrong
with me:

if anyone else
thought
the paintings resembled wallpaper

this morning
eating breakfast
in the hotel dining room

a young woman asked
my opinion
of the "Monet Salle"

I told her about
a prettily papered crypt

"it was just your mood"
she said
leaving the table

isn't it always?

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