In Mint Condition

last night

I was beginning to think about the Ambersons

and how Magnificent they were

and how they invented the comeuppance

And then I went down to the side of the river

where everything was emerald and marred in the dissolution of things beneath the surface

and how they had the right idea about destiny and all things incongruous being magnetic

and

automobiles

and the Carousel of Progress

and how we're all enchanted in this revolving diorama

today

The locomotive

the zoopraxiscope

the Street in Cairo

The family tree

and all its branches

the World Showcase

things that were old, now new again

slowly stepping out, becoming the passersby

inevitably

But in 1894, all these sentiments would be strung together differently

will be

and someday, we will talk about prohibition

and the daguerreotype of him drinking a whiskey sour won't be the forbidden fruit

someday

will be the erasure of all things romantic

And then we'll move our face and lips in the right direction, to a new muse

if only this once