A Tonalist Poetry Feature

Norma Cole

from «More Facts»

false suns
shining through
ice crystals
what is known
to the senses

myself or outside
the paintings
of flowers
removing
suspicion

¶

some

thing in suspension
that was
is far from

pretending a
circled piece of

air — the fantasy
of being
exempt

¶

from

military service
ultramarine sky
age of treason

supports or contests
breaking news in
the killer’s space

¶

the fire or
a day of
sightseeing

where did they
house the horses
anyhow?

undercoat
source of light
the plant

¶

closed. By the
willingness to
stay — he was



distraught, pulling
his shirt, his blue
tie over his face

white orchids

¶

or a wave of
bad checks

BOOM —
nano-weather

smaller buildings
tongue in cheek
the city itself
did not change

¶

on this day
80% of the people
missed each other

cars beyond
bamboo fence
sound of coffee
blueprints
nobody wanted

to hear that

¶

conversation
is just

possible
emptiness is
relative

the way air
resists

¶

the feather

just
the sight
before
the eyes

money

¶

monkey
donkey

hanging on
to sound
Milwaukee

tell me about
the driftless region

compass

¶

compassion
anybody’s
lover

clouds
hanging over
the city

rehearsal

¶

for disaster

or disaster
only

a drill — did you
get a new
phone, honey?
are you

¶

practicing
on the corner

in real time

whereas myself
conscious of fog
or outside

flinging beads
into the pond

¶

swim
from one
world

to another
memory
bank

pouring
ashes

¶

into
the violin
case

speak
to the side
don’t push

¶

your luck

like diving into
a picture
a real

hotel lobby
in a real
gunshot

silk

¶

illusions

questions
are facts

orange wands
in driving
snow

never

¶

think of
spring

the limit
sun

under the
second sun

second
stutter

¶

small
captions under
these photos

a single
green leaf
rose pink
against

a white
wall

¶

“Existing in the moment means having survived oneself up to that point.”
                                 Peter Sloterdijk, Derrida, An Egyptian

Among Norma Cole’s poetry books are Where Shadows Will: Selected Poems 1988—2008, NATURAL LIGHT and Do the Monkey. TO BE AT MUSIC (essays) is forthcoming from Omnidawn Press. Cole has received awards from the Gerbode Foundation, Gertrude Stein Awards, Fund for Poetry and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. She teaches at the University of San Francisco.