Opened

_____We bisect midnight, listening to Oppen*
_____after dinner, in the electrical lull of a car,
_____with the windows closed but the doors open.

_____Dew rises into the floor of the moment.
_____Headlights amputate fog, leaving no scar.
_____We bisect midnight. Listening to Oppen:

_____infidel driver and shotgun both fleeing the chosen,
_____lighting scripture on fire with exploding cigars,
_____with the windows closed. But the doors open.

_____Denied the prized secret, we reveal it so often
_____that the moon grabs madly at vanishing dinars.
_____We bisect midnight, listening to Oppen.

_____Refusing to be numerous is to be frozen.
_____We count crucified transformers, covers ajar,
_____with the windows closed. But—the doors open—

_____the poet scissors every futile slogan.
_____Utility poles stage passion plays for the stars.
_____We bisect midnight, listening to Oppen,
_____with the windows closed, but the doors open.

____________________

* The reference is to American Objectivist poet and political activist George Oppen (1908–1984).

Recordings of Oppen reading his poetry are widely available online.