How to Become an Authorized Agent
1.
BW-4770 ‘Model: TSK 160×130-1SC)
Read the instructions before use.
Do not use with a helpless person,
person with mental subnormality,
an infant or a person insensitive to heat.
Do not use if wet.
Do not wring out the blanket.
Have this blanket repaired or tested
by an authorized agent.
2.
What I want to know should be simple
to explain but it isn’t, never has been
(image of a pine stump
& scent of rosin)
not since I first noticed that stingy
metallic tang to the hot August air
seeping into my nose pressed into
the window screen beside my bed
the wire mesh hairy and pungent
pecan sap & zinnia pollen & bluejay
guano, no, not since then.
But this tag on my new blanket
got me to asking two questions:
First of all, I attest that
I am not helpless,
my mind has no subnormalities
(that I am aware of—but of course
I wouldn’t be, would I?),
I am not an infant,
And I am sensitive to heat.
I promise to stay dry.
Wringing blankets is not
one of my fortes.
How do I become an authorized agent?
Is this what the end of the world looks like?
3.
What if this is what the end
of the world looks like?
The end of what world looks like
what? This?
What the end of the world
looks like is this?
This looks like what?
The end of the world?
What I’ve wanted to know, I guess is
who will get to be the last one
in the world to ask “Is this
what the end of the world
looks like?” which seems to be
what motivates a billionaire
to amass a fortune by
bringing on the end of the
world so that he or she
gets to be the last person to ask
“Is this what the end
of the world looks like?”
While I wait for an answer
I meditate on the fact that
7,600,000,000 people are
still here asking
while opening a can of peaches
for breakfast.
4.
This is why I want to get my
authorization to become an agent.
Who will authorize me?
I want to test.
I want to repair.
So much needs testing.
So much repairing to do.
My first act as an authorized agent
will be to outlaw canned peaches.
.
By R Young
studio arago 