Is Vanishing
is a pretty princess / is ripe for parody / is a dork / is as mad
as hell, and not going to take this anymore / is at two with
nature / has had it up to here with winter / is moving / is
putting things in a row and then knocking them down one by
one by one / is James Dean / doesn’t understand why
sportscasters don’t snicker when they say “Magic Johnson” /
is on repeat / is bursting with fruit flavor / knows he can’t
have you / is crushing your head / is close to midnight and
knows Tivo® makes it happen / is electric! / is a solid object
moving in interplanetary space, of a size considerably smaller
than an asteroid and considerably larger than an atom heading
straight for you! / is funny ha-ha, not funny strange / bends
metal with his mind / is running for cover and discovering
the difference between clay and silt / runs / jumps the fence
/ clears the magnolias / breaks through the glass door /
catches the pie / saves the day / has been shorn / feels it all,
sometimes all at once, but often it comes in waves of
incremental periods of rushed excitement / missed the
announcement on the loudspeaker to assemble, then laid
down in a ditch and pretended to be dead / is a sad tomato /
wonders what business is it of your where he’s from, friendo?
/ is alone at the movies / needs a bigger boat / plays guitar in
the mirror / is uncool / uses his neighbors’ names for his
characters / bangs the drum / is sharing apples with the
orchard / feels like a zombie / is aware that there are things
here that might resemble backwards motion / begins with a
capital letter and proceeds to make a movement across the
page / is open to sophomore slumps / is okay with the idea
that wind won’t blow through your hair when we kiss /
squeaks when he walks / knows the distance has been
murder / spits when he talks creating monsters all around /
lays motionless on the hardwood in the hotel room / is on
his back waiting for an itch to scratch / wants to believe in a
heaven and will go on living as if he does / is a self-serving
seahorse / is a lion with earmuffs / is a turtle dragging his
shell behind him / is a pigeon with a parachute. / can’t have
it all / can’t feel his legs / imagines a day without sunshine
and smiles / brings himself back to life every morning at 2:50
am / is a worldwide fashion icon, pop culture princess, and a
global brand powerhouse / thinks of a happier time / begins
to notice when you’re not around / falls asleep anytime he
wants / is sad to see you go / abandoned himself and those
he cares for / is not deaf / heard the phone ringing and
realized it was on the screen / originally cast the role as a man
/ changed everyone’s lines the day of the shoot / can’t
remember a time that he laughed so hard / shares an affinity
for you / dresses like a clown when he’s in Wisconsin /
pretends dollar coins are sunken treasure / wishes he could at
least breathe underwater / handles the bludgeon himself/
responds accordingly / thinks tee vee is better than film at
the moment / wants wine and cheese this time around / can’t
believe it’s still light outside / doesn’t mind the extra fifteen
minutes it takes to get there / fades to black / feels better
having seen everything he has seen / can and will / stays as
the credits roll / puts the match in the gas tank. Boom.
Boom / doesn’t understand how anyone could ever write a
book on accounting / wishes he could still smoke in this cold
theatre / burns the house to the ground to save everyone
from embarrassment / throws the garbage can through the
glass window / hangs from the bottom of the space ship,
screaming / did everything, everything for you / knows that
at this moment he is the only one to ever do this one thing at
this exact moment / wants to know if you heard that / stands
on your street holding the boombox high / drinks your
milkshake / is one in a long line of disasters / is a cannibal
and a thief who steals and steals and steals everything from
everyone / is honored just to be nominated / wishes Heath
Ledger was still around / knows that nothing can bring back
the hour of splendor in the grass / has provided a pair of
safety glasses and some earplugs under your seats. Please feel
free to use them / knows this happens. This is something
that happens / lives in 3-D everyday / would say, “that’s
that,” Mattress Man / buries his head in the sand / is a
mouseapotamus / gets lost in the mise-en-scène / can’t count
on you / feels relieved to know that tomorrow the sun will
still be the sun / is convinced his gut has shit for brains / is
making lists of his favorite albums and putting them in order
of release, importance, and when they were purchased /
heads for the hills / wishes his fish wouldn’t eat his friends /
borrows things, bends them, and then never gives them back
/ rewinds / dives into the madness / brings up things at the
wrong time / wonders what went wrong and where he could
get it repaired / carries a book with nothing in it / believes
that statues like being settled in grassy areas in the shade /
values your opinion, but really only wants you to agree with
the decision he has already made / can’t decipher between
want and need / breaks down and goes to the record shop
again / uses his rearview as camera 1 and sideview as camera
2 / knows where he can find you when he needs you / opens
the box of ghosts slowly and closes his eyes quickly / knows
a carpenter’s cup when he sees one / breaks bread with the
masses / pokes holes in the jar in order to breathe / breaks
the waves / kills the sheep / influences strangers / pretends
to write poems / winces at the thought of being admired / is
a well-respected man / can’t control his shrugging / would
love to chat, but he’s off to work right now / sleeps on a bed
of California stars / destroys things with jackhammers and
mallets / snores in his sleep now / remembers the diving
board that was converted into a bench for bonfires / walks
the long walk / is [ ] / is Jack Kerouacing his way
through page after page of nonsensical bullshit / is
sharpening his teeth / is content with this time around / is
taking the stairs to Mars / is taking a train / knows Judd
Apatow / calls his own phone just to hear the busy tone /
hangs around outside until the last person leaves / is still
alive, despite what you may have heard / finds you lovely and
distracting / has a weakness for angora sweaters / drinks
coffee, but hates the taste / killed Superman / does his own
stunts / thinks the joke is still funny / thinks Mary Tyler
Moore is the only person who should wear Capri pants /
can’t tell the difference between Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton
/ wants you to be happy no matter who makes you happy /
likes you the way you are / could drink a case of you and still
be on his feet / is ordered in a system of color-codes and
decimal points / is not your wishing well or your front porch
swing / is close / is not finished /
| Andrew Terhune |
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