Encyclopedia

-3-

Encyclopedias wait on the bookshelves.
Notice how no one admits to reading them.
Cool kids don’t want to be found out; their knowledge
Is like a secret.  It’s not cool to know stuff.
Crying all day, I enjoyed my own tears; I
Laughed off my sorrow, feeling his presence near.

Overviews, the bullet points the leader gives, near
Pandemonium; a flurry of gifts. Shelves
Expect thirsty shoppers, but I’ll stay home. I
Do without expense.  There’s no future with them.
Imposters’ posters, swift travelers with stuff.
Amphitheatre of drama, tragic knowledge.

Enraged rabbits for the man to pull knowledge
Notoriously vanished by their ears near;
Congratulatory tassels, black gown stuff
Including square hats to toss up.  Search the shelves,
Congregations of little phrases.  Us, them.
Lord’s Prayer for a child at bedtime. Then I

Ought to say it too.  Again like Mary I
Pear the apple with a paring knife, knowledge
Enriched by the single actions she took, them
Docile, them bones for a soup, witches brew near
Inconvenient mushroom huts, their leprous shelves
Conjunctivitis needing a way out, clean stuff.

Overtures of interested men, the stuff
Engulfed by too many roses or jewels, I
Naughtily confiscated this gem no shelves
Drily knew of; it’s too damp by this knowledge;
Obstetrics is concerned with birth, the birth near,
Vacantly infants do not stare at them.

Ensues the sunset, but I didn’t trap them.
Necklines have made themselves known. I don’t need stuff.
Obstinacy of body.  Day is not near.
Scenario of strange bodies, the man I
Obtain for nothing.  I obtained none. Knowledge
Ensured that we would simply not be bored. Shelves

Needlework for idle shelves. I don’t need them.
Trapdoors of knowledge. I’ve given stuff.
Emaciated turkeys are alive I hear.

Author's Note

endovenoso means

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

lol this write is cool, I for one do read the encyclopedia from time to time, and I agree that they go untouched and unread by most people! Very interesting view on books thought to be boring by a lot of people, but books that can mean anything to other people. Well done!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh this is such a cool write...i don't really need knowledge but it does make me stronger...smart is good, i don't need men..they garnish me with jewels, want me to be their arm candy...but i want to open those encyclopedias and find out what i can...(sounds like the speaker might even be home schooled, self-taught)
he may not be that educated, but she is smart enough and certainly street smart...and not the least bit naive about what men want.
we are born with ourselves, with our minds....innately we thirst for knowledge...adornments are a learned need, and not really a need at all...

damn good poem....

me? i like a woman who is smart, even if her intelligence blows mine away...there is a sexy about intelligence...