HERB KAUDERER
Click headshot for bio
NIGHT BRIDGE CROSSING
To the right the sun.
To the left the moon.
Below
a thousand islands of dirt
nestle among a thousand
more islands of ice.
Two thousand islands
covered with snow
and the tracks of animals
who have only disdain
for creatures that need rely
on iron bridges.
BECOMING OTHER
“Becoming other is a very practical endeavor.”
-- Jake Nabasny
Becoming a dolphin he reveled in thoughts
freed from opposable thumbs.
Becoming a blank page he felt history written upon him.
Becoming a priest he understood shepherds.
Becoming an astronaut he saw the world below
as a grain of sand on a black beach
siphoning the sun’s heat in hopes of becoming
reflective glass.
Becoming a house parrot he meditated through boredom
& flight without horizons.
Becoming a movie projector he provided uniform dreams.
Becoming a nun she gave and then gave more.
Becoming an emperor he wept that he could trust no one,
including himself.
Becoming a shark he knew simplicity.
Becoming a weather balloon he rose to view nature without
mankind.
Becoming Buddhist he accepted.
Becoming a slave he pitied his master.
Becoming a whipped dog he pitied his master and himself.
Becoming a scholar he suffered the incompleteness of knowledge.
Becoming a refugee he knew connection.
Becoming a caged gorilla he sublimated anger
crushing logs and toys into sticks.
Becoming an actor the masks of life covered him in succession
channeling his tribes.
Becoming a child again he regained myth.
Becoming an elephant he lumbered with sadness
at approaching extinction.
Becoming a conformist he disappeared...
PICTURES
On the second floor promenade
of the Dreamer’s Mall
flat against the wall between stores sits one of those tall boxy machines you climb into and then pose
on a hard wooden bench to get your picture taken.
Inside, a vertical row of buttons lets you choose what pose to snap.
Here & Now is a favorite, as is
How I Remember Me.
People learn fast not to push
What I Could Have Been.
There’s not much call for
How I Am Remembered, either;
but What I Wanted to Be still gets pushed a lot.
And How I Remember You
does the very best business.
