Hurray for the Modern

Abstract

Hurray for the Modern Paul Guest (bio) And this mechanistic world in whichall of us are trapped. Listen: there is wildness inside the night. In my mouthare teeth. Are words like hello, and goodbye, and sadness whichis pervasive and comic and like a bad movie unavoidable. The newsreads like a story of fire and death and endless, insufferableseasons: this summer, wet and heavy, and the dreaded winter,which is a white nightmare in my mind. Tonight, I'll goout into the air to sing an old song. I'll vibrate with nostalgiafor that world without pain. Without you, I'll godown to the water to perform dumb rituals and bad magicand the stars will go on lighting up the sky. My pocket knifeis exactly this sharp. On its bright edgeis balanced everything that is visible. [End Page 47] I see: cars colliding withthe greasy air. Where will I go when allthe clocks wind down and what to sayto the moon's glowing face? Tell me:if you know. When you are near. [End Page 48] Paul Guest Paul Guest is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Because Everything Is Terrible, and a memoir, One More Theory About Happiness. A Guggenheim Fellow and Whiting Award winner, he lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Copyright © 2019 Pleiades and Pleiades Press