Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library

City

I'd like to take time out from my busy schedule to speak to you
in private, perhaps even break out the special reserve. My 
official duties brought me back to the tower. When is something
in its natural state? The castle grounds ended, the countryside 
began. The queen didn't fit in somehow, revolving in her cham-
ber. Eminent domain, natural history. The office is quiet these 
days. I spend time staring at the skyline. Colgate Palmolive. 
Draft an occasional document. Sedimentary rock, negro grave-
yard. As for us, I didn't mean to give you the business. There's
room enough for all the blokes, whether up in the funicular or 
empanelled underground.

Music

Leeunwenhoek kept the bacteria in solitary with a gooseneck 
flask. He equated the failure of the control with situation
normal. I took advantage of my invitation to the pulpit to
present my bill of particulars. There are some things better said 
in public. I started with you and your problems, then moved on 
to the periodic table and really caught fire. The organ recital 
began and I grooved on it. Later, at the reception we mingled 
under the yew trees. Then a falling leaf startled me-just nerves.

Matter

The sign taped to the trunk said "free." I picked up a coconut. 
High above the island electrons gathered in a star cluster. 
Parallel bars (diagonal bamboo). Fog descended on the harbor, 
I lifted a shell to my ear. Strange, I didn't feel dead. Strains of 
a vacuum. Or did it really say "tree"? We're not here, however, 
to discuss that. The topic is matter. Where did it come from? 
And why do we bother?

Head

It's important to respect the other person's space. (This is on the 
square.) Our inclination, though, is to try to finger certain "per-
petrators." Why do they bug us? Because their waves radiate 
outwards. We've all had that problem, I'd be the first to admit it. 
Dense jungle encircling the clearing. Get it? No? Smashed 
canape? The hostess was oblivious to her guests, so the evening 
came off without a hitch. Guard dogs roamed the grounds by 
twilight. The history of thought is an interesting, if broad, topic. 
One day a star burned too bright and gave everyone a bad head-
ache. Thinking continues, but along different lines.

Fall

I'd like everything to remain suspended and beautiful. Against 
backlit infinity. Kindly acknowledge your agreement by signing 
where indicated below. Our review disclosed that two of the 
properties are LUST sites. Leaking Underground Storage 
Tanks. Where the elephants go to die. Where does that leave us? 
Alone in the dark. Hold it right there.

Magic

The San Juan flowed quietly through the chaparral. Stallions 
and mares remained on opposite ends of the spread. Work your 
magic. The war between the sexes has escalated over the de-
cades. They stood face to face without a word, snorting and 
stamping. I'd like to add something here but need a moment to 
gather my thoughts. The Buzzard was tried for rustling, 
Dershowitz was granted an adjournment, and eventually the 
evidence vanished. I hiked through sagebrush to the edge of the 
mesa. C Company approaching box canyon. Struggle with bed-
ding, bolt upright, alarm blazing.

Mouth

I believe I have everything under control. Have not, want not. 
Notwithstanding the first sentence, send backup. I held an 
outtake of the face between my fingers, lifted it to the light, 
didn't like what I saw. But maybe that's just me. Entered into 
evidence, examined in camera. Then I fell apart. The more 
things stay the same, death of Arthur. Was the black hole part 
of the city or the city itself? The absence was real. When they 
put me back together there were stars on my ceiling.

Easter

On the third day he rose. Large stone heads erected, no one 
knows how or why. Give it a rest. We take the four elements for 
granted: earth, guilt, poem, redheads. Part of me likes the divi-
sion of labor. Inside the ant farm production continues. On the 
other side of town teenagers park and make out. The other part? 
Rising, like an observation balloon above the front. Voice from 
a passing cloud: hold on to your day job.
 

Mirror

Somebody throw me a towel. Look at yourself. You look terrible. 
You met somebody, became part of her life and blended into the 
upholstery. Narcissus faced the pool. A reverse two-and-a-half 
followed by polite applause. Gazing backwards, I caught a 
glimpse of the mercury falling. Business as usual at the weir. 
There are two sides to every story, one well done, one medium 
rare.

Larry Fagin

Breaking up is never easy, that's for sure
I find it depressing myself

When I first met you, you were married
Now, a few girlfriends later, you're close
To not being married
You were wearing a green army jacket
That you also wore to a party
Steven and I gave
At Ted Greenwald's gallery on Mott Street
You came with Sara

Whatever happened to that jacket?

You were young and in love
Except that you were about 45
But a young 45
And 45's not that old anyway.

I still think about all the girls
I ever loved and get sad
I literally met two of my four great loves
"From across a crowded room"

I'm still looking for Miss Right
A few excellent candidates
Seem to have slipped away
Like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape

There's never been a shortage of women in my dreams

Last year you invited Anne and me over
For brunch with you and Dana
And both of us were stood up
So it was just us two boys
Though Lee Ann dropped by for a while
We talked about women for a change
And about Nick Dorsky, a man

You've been married twice
I have yet to marry

And wonder what it will be like
And hope it won't end badly

 I'm standing in a field of yellow wildflowers
Wearing a pink and white plaid shirt
The wind in the leaves,
September or October
What am I doing here?

Anne Verheyden

Listen to me
Listen to your friends
Especially Cathy
Who thinks we should get back together
But also to your other friends
Like Mary
Who thinks I was the best thing
That ever happened to you
Listen to your sister, Evelyn,
Who invited me to stay for an extra week
At your parents' house in Los Altos
And to come back at Christmas
Listen to my friends
Steven Hall and Tim Dlugos
I bought a black convertible
Just so you could ride in it with me
As I write this I'm cleaning my apartment
In anticipation of your finally listening
To reason
You called me crying on Tuesday
Because you hadn't heard from me
If no one else comes along
You'll crawl back
On your hands and knees
It doesn't have to be like that
I flew to California to see you
To make one last-ditch effort
I was nervous getting off the plane
But your parents loved me
And already look on me as the son they never had
I read The Demolished Man to you on the beach
At Half Moon Bay
Where we played volleyball and drank
Beer and lay in the sun
When we walked around San Francisco
You couldn't keep your hands off me
You were never happier than those few days
And won't ever be again
Unless you listen to me
You're screwed up and you need someone
To straighten you out

Me
Listen
Listen to me
Read this poem again

Special Capacity
 
I'm studying now
Where to begin?
Back to the sphinx
And to my thoughts
Advisory study/motion towards form
To think while there was you!
Perhaps I dozed this afternoon

Time
Through
These clouds
I could wish to speak
In a special capacity

Tim Dlugos

You appeared
As a cloud
In the sky
In my poem

Michael Friedman was born in New York in 1960 and grew up in Manhattan. He was educated at Columbia (B.A., 1982), Yale (M.A., English Literature, 1983) and Duke (J.D., 1986). Since 1986 he has edited the poetry journal Shiny.
Friedman is the author of six books of poetry, Species (The Figures, 2000), Arts & Letters (The Figures, 1996)(with drawings by Duncan Hannah), Cameo (The Figures, 1994), Special Capacity (Intermezzo, 1992), Distinctive Belt (Mary House, 1985). A new collection, Celluloid City (with drawings by Jim Ringley) is forthcoming from Potato Clock Editions. His work has appeared in several anthologies, including Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present (Scribner, 2003), and in American Poetry Review and New American Writing. In 2000 Friedman was an adjunct member of the faculty of the MFA writing program at Naropa University in Boulder.
Friedman now lives in Denver with his wife and their young son. He is a partner in the Denver law firm Lottner Rubin Fishman Brown & Saul, where his practice focuses on financing and real estate. Previously, he was an associate at both Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts and Weil Gotshal & Manges in New York City.
"City," "Music," "Matter," "Head," "Fall," "Magic," "Mouth," "Easter," and "Mirror" are reprinted from Friedman's collection of poems, Species (The Figures, 2000); "Tim Dlugos, "Larry Fagin," "Anne Verheyden," and "Special Capacity" are from an earlier Friedman collection, Special Capacity (Intermezzo Press, 1992).