March 14, 2025
Three Poems by Beatriu Delaveda
JASPER JOHNS AND ME
A PANTOUM
Jasper Johns: "Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it."
Jasper Johns makes it sound so easy
I mean for him, maybe
And what if you don’t have an object?
You can’t do something with nothing.
I mean for him, maybe
That might have worked for Jasper Johns
You can’t do something with nothing
It doesn’t work for me
That might have worked for Jasper Johns
I mean it worked for that damn flag
It doesn’t work for me
And thanks to him, the flag idea is taken.
I mean it worked for that damn flag
Jasper Johns makes it sound so easy
And thanks to him the flag idea is taken.
And what if you don’t have an object?
Your home town pantoum
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there – – –
L. P. Hartley
If the past is a foreign country
so they do things differently there
I wouldn’t rule out the present is your home town
where they do things just the same
so they do things differently there
perhaps the present is also a foreign country
where they do things just the same
and sometimes they do things differently there
perhaps the present is also a foreign country
and the past can be your home town
and sometimes they do things differently there
and sometimes they don’t do things differently there
and the past can be your home town
and the future is no country at all
and sometimes they don’t do things differently there
and a lot of the time they don’t do a damn thing
and the future is no country at all
if the past is a foreign country
and a lot of the time they don’t do a damn thing
I wouldn’t rule out the present is your home town
NOTHING TO SAY
pantoum
All of my friends have nothing to say.
When I say something to them, they say nothing.
It could be there is nothing left to say
Or they have something to say but can’t say it
When I say something to them they say nothing
Perhaps they don’t say it because I will think it is nothing
Or they have something to say but can’t say it
Or they have something to say until they become my friends
Perhaps they don’t say it because I will think it is nothing
It could be they have something to say and say it to everyone but me
Or they have something to say until they become my friends
In which case, they are not my friends
It could be they have something to say and say it to everyone but me
All of my friends have nothing to say
In which case they are not my friends
It could be there is nothing left to say