404: Object Not Found

a 404 message shames brain back into itself.
lot's wife looks back & freezes the pc.

recurring thoughts lull the sun's afternoon rage.
brain descends the stairs cautiously.

here brain edits an inner encyclopedia.
the doctor cannot diagnose the pagination.

lot's wife wins one.
the desert is left empty-handed.

domain name system: server unknown.
no one would suspect brain.

 

Brain Stands at Attention

brain stands at attention long after war's end
biotechnology breaks a leg, wears a cast

brain makes a break for it, but fails
clinical trial halted, tectonic plates gasp

i am sailing to the other side
fog of brain stills the surface

long after war's end, doctor extends a hand
girl steps out of photo, leaves her face behind

clinical trial approaches unflinchingly
pharmaceuticals wait it out

 

Spring is in the Air

brain leaves no note, wouldn't know what to say.
i sat on the top step, head in lap, vertigo.

brain comes back, world is too small.
doctor steps into brain, investigates silent lesions.

12 weeks of drugs arrive, cannister for biohazardous
waste awaits the used needles. who do you trust?

silent lesions cross the night sky, an unwanted con-
stellation. the noise of disease, an invisible storm.

who do you trust? brain leaves no note.
the silent lesions have a plan.

 

Brain Takes the Scenic Route

the girl in the photo allows the others to go ahead of her.
all in all, empty cans adorn a house.

brain takes the scenic route:
no talk of axonal damage.

brain is courageous, rescues girl from photo.
empty, braincolored rooms adorn the girl's orbit.

a biohazardous smile threatens the girl.
brain takes no notice and steps over the homeless bodies.

a rainbow of whole brain atrophy sneaks up like summer.
let's not speak of axonal damage.

 

Step Over

step over the same plush dog on the nuthouse floor.
step under the sign which directs you nowhere.

only the girl in the photo can mess with sideways.
basic rules of composition have taken flight.

i thought i would feel calm in the quiet house:
walls of brain's scans where the staircase rises.

disease holds all the cards.
the party downstairs continues.

brain is constant as the plush dog.
the girl in the photo has moved on.

 

THERE GOES

 

the suicide who still walks the street

& the man with two idiot sons, god smiles.

 

these are the ways of the dead:  take the one

who is edging her way out of the photo.

 

the brain holds what we call the mind

(the patients stifle their laughter)

 

incurable, you are invisible.

tell us about your symptoms.

 

i think it began when i bathed in the brain lesions.

the girl in the photo turns away.

 

 

SOMEONE WITH MY NAME SPEAKS ILL

someone with my name walks with disease
they say she's raided the photo albums

each cat has his own window
each dream has her own house

someone with my name speaks ill
of the girl in the photo. each window

looks back like a cat. brain unfolds
its luggage. thoughts unravel.

the girl in the photo acquires sunglasses
each dream is a brain unto itself

 

MAGNETIC SQUADS

the girl in the photo wanders lonely
as often these kind of girls do.

skating on the sky, hanging on
a faithful star: count on this.

the girl in the photo finds the firing squad
soulful. it quiets the light of magnetic resonance

imaging. so much for truth in advertising.
biohazardous waste sleeps closer than you think.

the girl in the photo asks brain to step forward.
no warnings posted.

 

BARCODE BLUES

 

snapshots have failed me.

i'm forgetting what freedom means.

 

my medical records grind their teeth.

i fear i will never get off the train.

 

major acts of congress blur on the page.

more & more for sale signs appear on SUVs.

 

RFIDs, i love you.

i give you my brain, lesions & all.

 

the ending gives birth to me.

angels & ladders, ladders & angels.

 

 

DOCTOR WHISPERS OF THE CORPUS CALLOSUM

 

brain trips all over itself in lesionalia.

neon post-its plastered on its surface.

 

the girl in the photo plays cat's cradle

with seasons strung together. time is a fire

 

in her mind.  you can tell.

you can tell by the lips of lesionalia

 

guiding her to proud new lesions

through the arms of the 7 Tesla scanner.

 

doctor whispers of the corpus callosum.

hardly a word overheard by the girl in the photo.

© Evelyn Posamentier

The present poems have first appeared:

1.  GENETICS ---- DIAGRAM Magazine

 

2.   THE ALLEY -- DIAGRAM Magazine

 

3.   ELEVEN BRAINS --  DIAGRAM Magazine

 

4.  TONGUES --- DIAGRAM Magazine

 

5.  THE SOCIETY --  BORN Magazine (digital collaboration with J + Design)

 

6.  ALONG FOR THE RIDE -- RealPoetik

 

7. ELECTRIC EYES  --  RealPoetik

 

8. THE CERAMIC BEAR -- RealPoetik

 

9. 404: OBJECT NOT FOUND  --  Notell Motel 

 

10. BRAIN STANDS AT ATTENTION -- Notell Motel

 

11. SPRING IS IN THE AIR -- Notell Motel

 

12. BRAIN TAKES THE SCENIC ROUTE -- Notell Motel

 

13. STEP OVER  --  Notell Motel

 

14. THERE GOES  --  Free Verse

 

15. SOME WITH MY NAME SPEAKS ILL  --  The Argotist Online

 

16. MAGNETIC SQUADS  -- The Argotist Online

 

17. BARCODE BLUES -- Can We Have Our Ball Back?

 

18. DOCTOR WHISPERS OF THE CORPUS CALLOSUM -- Inertia Magazine