DEFECTIVE ART ( formerly ONE NIGHT)
Notes toward a poem, or something

Joke told twice one night
puffed ashes
{Red steamboat whistle}
through the leaves of the trees
on the banks...

Gone again down this Mississippi
to catch himself a purer sense of comedy
{Paddle-wheel river slipping loosely underfoot}
{Moon towed alongside}
Laughter
rising in fits that mottle the sky...

Whisper 'Mr. Comedy!'
{'Your Highness'}