(After Leslie Scalapino)

by Annisa Tangreen

 A note to readers: This poem is part of a journal of imitations done in the spring of 2011 for a class on contemporary American poetry given by Professor Tenney Nathanson at the University of Arizona.  This particular poem is an imitation of the style of Leslie Scalapino, a 20th century American poet.  The other poems in the series consist of an imitation of Charles Bernstein (Thorny Crowns of Optimism), John Ashbery (Do Not Worry They Are Coming), and Frank O’Hara (Egypt).

PART I

alienation
the sense of
— their – her –
having
made all
the wrong
decis-
ions

where they – she –
could have
said
black – their—
her –
mistake
was yellow

having said
— given –
the
wrong – not their –
answers and
coming
apart

so many
— the children—
having depend-
ed on her
having made
any
choice at
all

it was not then —  but now – that  having known what could be known; calling shots retroactively; they suppose – her, their – having wasted opportunities wasted time

it was when the girl was in the window and out the window – the boy coming through; and she – they – having made a wrong choice, having been oppressed, not having had another choice.

PART II

yellow it
was his
hair
–having
chosen
yellow over
black –
striking her
hard

and her – their –
will was,
had been
for some
time, over
ruled by
violence

and having put
— being driven –
herself into – under —
the marriage – she,
they –
having made
the only
choice

up it was
and
down
time after
time, she – they —
having made promises
could not
but keep
them

the children had chased her – the girl — all the way home from school like a dog from a pack; chanting, advancing, driving; and she had been able to find no sanctuary in the church

PART III

not then –
knowing how
things would
turn out – she would
have been doing
it all differently;
having stayed
she – they –
suffered

are the children better off? his example, her example versus his example, her example – their – of cowering, standing, running, loving – sanity/insanity; will they

people – he, she – change every cell in their – his, her – bodies in seven years and it had been twenty one so that’s thrice the difference but is it?

four months
had it been
and he – they, not her –
having given
a ring
she – not her –
sympathetic
to his
— not her –
plight
kids are resilient
they bounce

back then
their – I, not she –
not having known
better
nor having thought
better
having made
all
the wrong
choices

PART IV

a box
a car
having wrecked—
ruined—
their – his, her –
chances for
having made
the right
choices

he had lost something – just a box! – important and she did not understand, so she – he, they – kept misunderstanding, and that time they were arguing in the bathroom.

it was too late to start over, having that thought of making love and peace; but there were choices and she – they, he – having been too stubborn to see the right choice, or their being it

scrubbing of the
pots and
pans
while she – he –
wrote and worked
– having been quiet –
but is the choice
the one
keeping them
– him, her –
moving
in the
right direction
a choice?