Psalm in the Spirit of Dragnet by Julie Marie Wade

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 4, 2014   Psalm in the Spirit of Dragnet   Julie Marie Wade

Tonight all the stars are just celestial swag in the moon’s handbag, flashy & overpriced. All the angels are pinheads, & not even pinheads of light.   Here’s what I know: I am good at déjà vu but bad at karaoke.  I am good at Magic 8-Ball but bad at bicycle-built-for-two.   Axiom, from the Greek meaning “No rebuttals,” meaning “Whatever I    say is true.”   For instance, the heart is shaped like a Hungryman dinner, indestructible as Styrofoam & always divided.   Somewhere in the cosmos this moment the ghost of Jack Webb is asking the ghost of Harry Morgan for “Just the facts,” & Morgan is laughing his ethereal ass off.   Axiom, from the Greek meaning, “No facts, ma’am, only    interpretations.”   When the smooth, voluptuous moon falls into the ocean, like bait on fishing line, I see her for the yo-yo she is, & God, who is learning to walk the dog.   Speaking of dogs, I decree they all shall be mutts & all named Fido. All shall have spots & ride starboard, at least once, on a flaming-red    fire engine.   Joni Mitchell shall play on all the jukeboxes in all the coffee shops,    especially at the Axiom Diner, from the Greek meaning “greasy spoon,” meaning    “tops in food.”   But getting back to that moon, who can be such a diva sometimes, who only ever buys her triple-shot mocha frappucinos from Starbucks.   It’s a hard job keeping her up all night, that moon. The baristas are grouchy in their green aprons, swigging their Ethos    water.   Now the weatherperson predicts one hell of a zeitgeist arriving on    Tuesday. There is talk of losing all the apostrophes in a bad grammar meteor    shower.   Sometimes the sky is calm & white & pleated with cirrus clouds. Sometimes the thunder sounds like God driving his old Zamboni    across a starlit, skating rink floor.   The moon has only a few good moves & is never going to nail that    triple Salcow.    Axiom, from the Greek for “stick the landing.”   The moon doesn’t mind.  The moon is already a gold medal.   As for my guardian angel, it’s a toss-up: I’ll take Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha from Bewitched, or Nietzsche, as himself, exactly.              Copyright © 2014 by Julie Marie Wade. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘Psalm in the Spirit of Dragnet’ was inspired by Aaron Smith’s Appetite, Lauren Shapiro’s Easy Math, the moon prompt in Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Encyclopedia of Ordinary Life, two decades of faithful Nick at Nite viewing, long conversations with my spouse on the Hollywood Broadwalk, and an enduring love of the word zamboni. It is part of a new collection in progress called Quick Change Artist.” –Julie Marie Wade    Julie Marie Wade is the author of When I Was Straight: Poems (A Midsummer Night’s Press, 2014).  She teaches at Florida International University and lives in Dania Beach, Florida. Most Recent Book by Wade   When I Was Straight (A Midsummer Night's Press, 2014) "Tonight No Poetry Will Serve" by Adrienne Rich "Radar Data 12" by Lytton Smith "Summer Night, Riverside" by Sara Teasdale Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038