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Pink Confetti

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“You have your one, brief, tiny life. You have your pen. Can you convey the heat of it?”
—Paul Kingsnorth, Savage Gods

Doug Paul Case is a photographer and writer based in Bloomington, where he earned his MFA in poetry from Indiana University. He is poetry editor of Hobart, and his first book of poems, Americanitis, is due out from Eyewear Publishing in Fall 2022.

On this edition of the Poets Weave, Doug reads "Pink Confetti," "Selfhood," "Inaccuracy Because Either Can Be Either," and "I Saw the Ghost."

 

the Poets Weave. I'm Romayne Rubinas Dorsey.

Pink Confetti

 

The villain in my favorite Star Trek movie says ridiculous things

“Time is the fire in which we burn” and sure I guess

He wanted to collapse a star but dies when his missile blows up early

Everyone knows you can only be right about x-amount of things

Time is what I use to think about golden retriever puppies wearing baseball caps

Time is what we plant out back when we want corn in September

Everything is explodable

Even words you have to invent

Especially

Who actually believes Shakespeare did all that

Lord he must have lived at writing residencies

He must have had incredible lovers

I quit wondering what gender they would have been

I quit my job so I could write poems

Look at this tiny black poodle in a princess costume

How do you know what month it is

What are the benefits of living in a college town

Is it all right to watch science fiction all day

Should you always send a thank you note after an interview

When do your mid-twenties end and then

I wish there were a carousel nearby I could watch spin

Who is in charge of painting the horses

There is a museum with the answers in Connecticut

Who is in charge of ticket sales

Who is in charge of most things

Some guy on the news says the Bible says the world will end today

There’s a nice breeze outside so what if it carries hellfire

I’d miss my midcentury porcelain tea set

I’d miss shirtless men jogging by my porch

Can you think of a better place to sit with a beagle

I stopped drinking milk a while ago and yes I feel much better

Déjà vu exists because time is a bunch of pink confetti

There was a party you weren’t invited to but had to clean up

There are four brooms in this house

We don’t know why

 

Sorry the Plant You Gave Me Is Dead

 

Lately I can’t tell the difference between the natural and the artificial

Put a stick of gum in my mouth

I like everything pink

I like these cloud formations

We live in dichotomous times

It’s raining or it’s not unless there’s fog

The wind’s having a day isn’t it

Lord for the life of me I can’t find the watering can

When I bought it I thought better get the neon green one

I’m sure you’ve heard how plastic some leaves look

I’m sure you’ve heard KT Tunstall covering that Radiohead song

It’s a universal truth that gravity always wins

For years I’ve been certain I’ll die falling off something tall

The only bridges I want to see were built by otters

I’ve got a kayak if you’ve got the time

I’ve got a guilty conscience red raspberry macaroons

 

Is a Cabin in the Middle of Nowhere Still in the Middle of Nowhere

 

How to maintain interest if I don’t begin with trees

There was smoke until there wasn’t

It’s not always about summer’s arrival

It’s not always about Orion’s belt

Another man’s on the floor

Pulled still through his gray trousers

Looking like its owner didn’t care where it crumpled

How silent when he turns off the shower

No one ever knows which towel to use

No one ever knows how steady to stay waiting

To dress is to ignore how alone you are

 

You've been listening to poetry by Doug Paul Case on the Poets Weave. I'm Romayne Rubinas Dorsey.

Pink confetti

(Marco Verch, flickr)

“You have your one, brief, tiny life. You have your pen. Can you convey the heat of it?”
—Paul Kingsnorth, Savage Gods

Doug Paul Case is a photographer and writer based in Bloomington, where he earned his MFA in poetry from Indiana University. He is poetry editor of Hobart, and his first book of poems, Americanitis, is due out from Eyewear Publishing in Fall 2022.

On this edition of the Poets Weave, Doug reads "Pink Confetti," "Sorry the Plant You Gave Me Is Dead," and "Is A Cabin in the Middle of Nowhere Still in the Middle of Nowhere."

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