FORTY*
by Lary Kleeman
it is time to explain myself or at least
the pauses that come between my self
and my self expression()namely,
the use of parentheses—why & why the
empty parentheses when questions
should end in question marks, exclamations
in marks of their own()is it under-
stated rebellion, a faulty keyboard
or just resorting to the easiest means
of caesura sans periods or colons or semi-
colons()let’s face it, specialization is over-
rated()now hyphens & dashes designate
a length of pause by a length of line—
this is straightforward & to be admired,
but what of the colon in its stand-offishness
or the half-assedness of the semi-colon()
parentheses give us a space, nothingness,
a pause of indeterminate length yet can
be determined by the one who reads or speaks
()efficient, flexible, & hardly dictatorial,
a bubble afloat between the waves, and empty
set for the silence that ensures, as near as one
can get to symbolizing a breath held then
expended()besides, it looks nice()it rounds
out what’s rough & strained & cushions
the cacophony
THE ROBIN SANG SOULFULLY IN MORNING FOG
[from Hawsapple]
* This isn’t a title, exactly; it’s a title inexactly (pace Marvin Bell). That is, the poems in Lary’s book are numbered sequentially, but the numbers are spelled out—which forces one to consider the nature of both numbers and titles. It’s one of the (apparently) small tensions from which his distinctive style is made.
* * *
Lary Kleeman was born and raised in Denver. Kleeman teaches high school English. From 1992-94, Kleeman taught conversational English in the Peace Corps in Estonia. A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Montana, Kleeman is a recipient of the Colorado Council on the Arts Poetry Fellowship (2002). His 2010 chapbook, Negotiating a Lower Angle, is available here.
My pleasure, Phyllis. Thanks for reading!
What a fun poem! I’ve greatly enjoyed the variety of poems you are posting this month. Thanks for taking the extra time to share during National Poetry Month.