HERB KAUDERER
Click headshot for bio
NIGHT BRIDGE CROSSING
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To the right the sun.
To the left the moon.
Below
a thousand islands of dirt
nestle among a thousand
more islands of ice.
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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
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“Becoming other is a very practical endeavor.”
-- Jake Nabasny
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Becoming a dolphin he reveled in thoughts
freed from opposable thumbs.
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Becoming a blank page he felt history written upon him.
Becoming a priest he understood shepherds.
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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.
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Becoming a house parrot he meditated through boredom
& flight without horizons.
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Becoming a movie projector he provided uniform dreams.
Becoming a nun she gave and then gave more.
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Becoming an emperor he wept that he could trust no one,
including himself.
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Becoming a shark he knew simplicity.
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Becoming a weather balloon he rose to view nature without
mankind.
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Becoming Buddhist he accepted.
Becoming a slave he pitied his master.
Becoming a whipped dog he pitied his master and himself.
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Becoming a scholar he suffered the incompleteness of knowledge.
Becoming a refugee he knew connection.
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Becoming a caged gorilla he sublimated anger
crushing logs and toys into sticks.
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Becoming an actor the masks of life covered him in succession
channeling his tribes.
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Becoming a child again he regained myth.
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Becoming an elephant he lumbered with sadness
at approaching extinction.
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Becoming a conformist he disappeared...
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PICTURES
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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.
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Inside, a vertical row of buttons lets you choose what pose to snap.
Here & Now is a favorite, as is
How I Remember Me.
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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.
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