CLEAR THE RANGE

BRUCE COVEY

BLAZEVOX[BOOKS]
Buffalo, New York

Clear the Range
by Bruce Covey
Copyright 2017

Published by BlazeVOX [books]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without

the publishers written permission, except for brief quotations in reviews.

Printed in the United States of America

Interior design and typesetting by Geoffrey Gatza

Back Cover Art: Lee Ann Roripaugh

First Edition
ISBN: 978-1-60964-299-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017947133

BlazeVOX [books]
131 Euclid Ave
Kenmore, NY 14217
Editor@blazevox.org

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Sonnet: Inflammation

Sometimes someone gets cut & the wound blossoms

From infection. There are so many germs & bacteria
Enough to go crazy, at least. Im lucky not to be afraid
Of the dentist or needles or death, but I am really scared
Of skittering things, like rats or the toy in Kafkas
Cares of a Family Man. Im scared of space and rain
Or TOO much inflamed tissuethings out of control.
More people or things than I can count, or that I might
Have time to count, given the time I have left.
All the leaf blowers sound like chainsaws.
Or sometimes my body just goes without me feeling it.

If you cut a circle into quarters, & those quarters

Into quarters & those quarters into quarters,
& so on, thats a truly scary monster. Most of the people
I know are people I love, but every so often someone
Does something I cant comprehend, like murder.

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Sonnet

Its a scientific fact that many inanimate objects can bleed:

A map, a washer, a car, a faucet, a living room, a car
Some smells, some tastes, some colors.
You might think that Im speaking metaphorically
But in reality, Im talking about real blood,
i.e., plasma, and not in a Carrie sort of way.
I put the last two gelatinous blobs of Satan into sandwiches
It was my jobbut the incinerators were closed for the night
So I had to leave them in the freezer. That was a BIG mistake!
But, fortunately, only a dream. I dreamt I died by
Explosion, implosion, and poisonous gas
Plus a zombie apocalypse without the zombies
Factions warring with one another, and all of those
Over only two nights.

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Double Sonnet

Even the people who believe there are

As many people alive today
As in the rest of history combined
Must realize that half of everyone is dead.
At some point, a shirt just becomes a shirt
& a tie just becomes a tie.
Those timelines differ between subject & direct object.
About 20-something years ago I wrote a poem
About trees down near the Blackberry River Inn
In northern Connecticut. Today, theres
A tree down on Desmond Drive, & all the billions
Of traffic fight to unstick.
Theres no way something like that could ever happen.
My therapist in New Haven helped me recognize
My inability to deal with leaving.
Ive written before that Im left handed.
Ive begun to imagine, for perspective
A poets timelinesomehow Ive outlived
Both Berrigan & OHara, while Koch & Cage
Seem out of reach. When my dad died at 78,
Surpassed by his older siblings,
I tried to staple it into my body.
What were the odds?

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Sonnet: Forum

You cannot take a free agent; you have to sign him

Even when the player is an offensive lineman
Luck and agency kick at each other in space
Some might say thats what the polyverse is composed of

Sometimes my shirt sleeves are full or empty

Sometimes my computer is charging or not

The Giants really did sign Messiah & Lalama to play linebacker
If they arent waived in training camp
Cast into the mud, the part of the field without the astroturf
Where cheerleaders & megaphones & pompoms used to reside
Those really are their names

Sometimes the light sticks to the bulb

Sometimes cards are cutups, not a play
If I had anywhere to be, it wouldnt be here
That according to Heisenbergs Uncertainly Principle
Since position & momentum are hidden
In the missing corners of an uninformed god

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Sonnet

How am I supposed to keep track of all the lines in this traffic?

I can see the vines creeping up the trees & killing them
An emergency vehicle in every parking lot

On the Flash, theres a supervillain

Who ages every time he uses his super strength
So fast you can see it happen
His character was eighteen but now looks like hes nineteen

I still like The Go-Gos

I still take pleasure in Suicidal Tendencies

My kitten paddles the window every night

Thinking her reflection is a bird;
Is it better to dream something before or after it happens?
Im Skittering Machine by Paul Klee
Jk I know thats not the real title
But I do see a cardinal furiously sweep the streets for worms
And suicidal squirrels try to time my tires

Black Canary dies on Arrow giving way to a new Bird of Prey

If you want to torture me, btw, strap me to a chair
& just hold me upside down
Well kill ourselves laughing

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Sonnet: Lucky Things

Key lime
The capital of the earth kingdom is Ba Sing Se

I thought Lee was telling me about the Lying Cheeto Prophecy

One of the red-headed clones shot another in the head

He might be an asshole, but hes not a felon,

Says the fan of the rookie wide receiver

Did you see the eight angels?

Theyre all shiny. None occurred that way in real life.
Four more are worry stones & a couple are melons

Sixteen is two to the fourth or four to the second

A circle with a hole in it
Pictures of my daughters
Pusheen, Domo, a two-headed tiger, a string of dragons

Talking to you on the telephone

Sending you pictures
Talking to my daughter on the telephone
Talking to my daughter on the telephone

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Sonnet: Fire & Ice

Is there a difference between a decision I make

& one that is made by me?
I dreamt a kitten lived underneath
One of my other cats & I never noticed
I dreamt someone rejected my religion because
It was the American version
Just as I reject America now
I dreamt a shyster wanted to sell me
A new relational database system
Which of course would cause all of my
Other systems to fail
I dreamt that Pluto was still a planet
Along with Sedna, Haumea
Ceres, Eris, & Makemake
Is there a firewall for decisions
Or kittens or nations or planets?
Do I need to poke a hole
In that firewall for every connection?

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Sonnet

I dont understand anything.

Im alive in parallelthe dream one
& the waking. Recently
Physicists discovered that the world
Is composed of tiny coins
Coins as in currency, but not in shape.
The shape of the world is more like grains of salt
Or tiny knives, and each motion generates
1,000 tiny cuts, perpetual reinvention.
Today I lost another connection
& by that I mean a person died.
What I said about physics is completely untrue.
Theyre not finished exploring strings
Other dimensions & quarks & leptons
The things that make up quarks & leptons.
There are six flavors of quarks:
Up, down, strange, charm, bottom, & top.
I wish that at the top or bottom
Id reach something.

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Half Sonnet: Pylons

Id like to live long enough to make it through

Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
At least I want to see Captain Marvel &
Infinity Wars, Pt 2. Maybe even unnamed
Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, if Im lucky.
Yesterday on the highway I drove behind
A spiny pickup truck bristling with orange pylons
Stacks of warnings. Whether someone dies here
Or in a comic book or in a dream. In my dream
I ran over a white rat, but a sign said it was endangered
And a herothe mother of the rat
Had saved a half a dozen people.

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Sonnet: Car

I drive past someone wearing a TGIF shirt

But its only Thursday
Shell be really disappointed when she finds out

Between the time change and the pills

I feel sleepy ALL the time.

Yesterday someone on the bus

Took two seats until a white person stepped in
Then she moved her bag

I feel much safer surrounded by metal or electricity

Than by people or air
Each year more people die from people than from metal

I have a migraine coming on anyway

Which means eight more pills
Theyre tearing down my Nissan dealer for a Whole Foods
They tore down my rental car place for a mattress store
A mattress means eight more nightmares

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Double Sonnet

In my dream, the left third of a mans face

Had cracked off & fallen, but over time
He was healing, his scar erasing.

Its a surprise the earth can hold us up

With all of its cracks,
Without the support of Pluto
& other former planets.

In Spider-Man, Elektro, the Prowler,

& a woman named Francine
All died & came back to life
All in one issue.

Ive dreamed so many times of being

Killed, maimed, or dismembered, Ive
Forgotten which of these parts
Are still mine.

Today, on my way to a meeting, I saw

A woman with a terrible scar on her face,
But really it was only a strand of hair
Trapped in a sunglass frame imprint.

When I returned to work, a woman

Was lying on the ground shaking,
Her eyelids fluttering. Two doctors
Stood next to her, talking about
Whether it might rain. They
Were waiting for the EMT to arrive.

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Sonnet: March

The tree blossoms blot out

The delicate etches of the branches
Until I feel suffocated by opacity.

On the bus, Im caught up in a vortex

Of vanilla and peppermint.
If only I could keep my senses
Closed for the rest of time.

Springing forward takes away an hour of my life.

Yeah, I know its an illusion & time is a concept,
But what if I pass between now
& the chance to fall back again
Into piles of dead leaves
Filled with worms & insects & lions?
Id be gone without regaining that hour.

The ants go marching three by three hurrah

The little one stops to seek
Shelter, to get away from the fucking rain

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Sonnet: Phantom Phone

I used to feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, even

When it wasnt in my pocket, like a phantom limb.
Or felt it ringing when it wasnt ringing.

I used to say that I didnt have a case for my phone

Because Id decided not to drop it, but
Today I dropped it, and now all of my contacts,
Some of whom are dead or owe me money,
& all of my unreturned emails and texts
& all of my games awaiting my next move
They all bled down my leg and into my shoe
Leaving fragments of glass poking
Through my socks & into my feet.

My leg is warm and my pants leg soaked through

With the blood of the people Ive somehow
Been unable to forgivedebts and trespasses both.

Except one time someone decided to throw me

A party, and I dont know whyan inexplicable
Act of kindness among people who
Are never that way.
Why would someone do that? Really?

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Half Sonnet: Five Senses

I walk by a person wearing way too much cologne. Does a scent truly fade? I
mean, I know it dissipates, but does it fundamentally change the environment?

My daughters t-shirt is losing its color. Does a shade truly fade? I mean, I know it
dissipates, but does it fundamentally change the environment?

I listen to a CD by The Submarines in my car. Does a song truly fade? I mean, I

know it dissipates, but does it fundamentally change the environment?

My fried rice from Thai Chili last night was really, really spicy. Does a taste truly
fade? I mean, I know it dissipates, but does it fundamentally change the
environment?

Before shooting myself in the face, I wonder whether I can get off two rounds
before I hit the floor. Does touch truly fade? I mean, I know Id dissipate, but did
I fundamentally change the environment?

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Sonnet: Survival

A shot to the head has a 1% survival rate.

Impact from a moving train has a 3.8% survival rate.
A jump from a building has a 6.6% chance of survival.
Hanging has a 10.5% chance of survival.

Fire has a 76.5% success rate.

Carbon monoxide has a 71% success rate.
Electrocution has a 65.5% success rate.
Drowning has a 63% success rate.

A cut throat will kill you only 51.5% of the time.

A plastic bag will kill you only 23% of the time.
Stabbing yourself in the stomach has a 12.5% chance of death.
Prescription drugs result in only a 12.3% chance of death.

Cutting your wrists gives you a 6% chance.

Cutting your arms or legs gives you a 6% chance.

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Half Sonnet: Pills

Id rather have a frontal lobotomy than a bottle in front of me.

675 mg antidepressants; 200 mg mood stabilizers; 200 mg anti-anxiety

much more than my multivitamin and magnesium can balance

My daughter asked if dementia and death were the same thing

I think secretly she might have been asking about me
I listen to Sonic Youth for the first time in eleven years

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