swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

moment-to-momentness
Lisa Segal

← home or next →

Everything is Noise

Striated clouds hold the sky close.
It’s an illusion of intimacy.
Like day stitches to night, the clouds hold
what otherwise might be loosened
from the pictorial layer —
moment-to-momentness,
factors of improbability,
outrage,
awe of high places,
favorite shirts,
movie nights at the Nuart,
crows.

Under the sheet of their cover
I suture together what has come undone,
I hold close my shaky conviction there’s room
for me somewhere.

To extract sensuousness from the tight angles
of closed doors,
I deposit myself where I find
a friendly enough greeting.

Otherwise, I would
swing mutely
upon squeaking hinges.

Win, Lose, or Draw: An Exit Interview

For each, choose one.

1. The wind in the tall palms –
– there was no billfold
– a ten-clause sentence

2. The wailing siren –
– only the magician put on his hat
– the forward thrust of her left hip as she walked away

3. The broken homily –
– come in by the back
– leave by the back

4. From the east, cresting the 10 freeway just before West Covina,
off in the distance, L.A. looks like –
– whatever turns you on

5. It’s a small matter –
– wind, sharp like metal
– the beauty that remains

6. I’m willing to take the chance –
– just laugh
– seriously

7. A deadly-dull place–
– fried chicken at the counter
– the rosemary bush

8. I no longer want to be perfect –
– bones of intimacy
– balloon on a string

← home or next →

Lisa Segal is a Los Angeles poet/writer/artist. She teaches poetry and writing through the Los Angeles Poets & Writers Collective. She has authored three poetry and prose collections (one a three-poet collaboration), a writing textbook, and co-edited an anthology. Her writing appears in anthologies and journals. She has won prizes in poetry contests. She is a founding member of StudioElevenArtists, a Los Angeles artist collective. www.lisasegal.com