A poem by Randy Ai
Dedicated to Colette Weihrauch
Look out! For this clandestine operation
Of great importance and greater implication
So wisely chosen in name and diction
Represents the empty space left behind!
Where curious office creatures scurry
I find them with thorough sound and fury
There dormant the desk lamp sheepishly lies
Among those stationary office supplies
I will liberate you from your metal vise
Swiftly under the moonlight’s guise
You will be MINE! My precious device
A servant of my insatiable vice
Two pencils, a pen, and a pad of paper
Ten large envelopes and a rubber eraser
These items I free from the office clasp
They belong now to my binding grasp
And what can stop my relentless imagination?
This great conquest invites no hesitation
Take heed of what my fertile fingers produce:
A bottle of sparkling wine and orange juice!
Even the MLA Handbook – once thought secure
Out from its warm cocoon I shall lure
And possess it with all the zeal and might
Of a madwoman in the clandestine night!
