Matthew Guenette

Announcements

I feel the pain of everyone
          Then I feel nothing —Dinosaur Jr.

No smoking on this flight, no
snow globes allowed, no small brown
bats or crickets, no drills or drill bits,
we don’t want you hitting
any wall studs, no Magic Markers
or Bruce Lee, even The Little
Mermaid is suspect, even
the moonlight, even the water
you bought from us…
Total bullshit everyone knows,
plus the windows stay closed
due to whatever, Row 37’s cursed,
so is Omaha, also no pushups
or having sex in the aisles, I can’t
always stand what they pay me to say,
and you don’t deserve it,
but beauty’s still there, so much
we should touch, please
put your laser pointers away…
If we lose one engine only I’ll recite
some fiction, you only lose
what you cling to, we’re just symbols
after all, row upon row,
then we’ll keep blasting amazingly
through, a thought over love it or leave it,
conceal and carry, shirts and skins
and cash or credit, the big
full-throated Midwest quaking, and oh
what storms! Whoa, big fella!
Our lovely attendants
will see you then, our pharmacists
and marshals oh husbands
and wives eyeing each others husbands
and wives, there’s 50 ways
to leave your lover but only one
off this flight, oh fellow travelers,
I hope we can share without
showing our fangs, that we love
even the seat kickers
and inconsiderate bastards whose hearts
also ache. When we reach
our destination, when the smoke clears
and the door exhales like a ghost,
look for the light. Last one off
cleans the plane.




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Matthew Guenette is the author of two full length poetry collections: American Busboy (U. of Akron Press, 2011) and Sudden Anthem (Dream Horse Press, 2008). He lives, works, and loses sleep in Madison, WI.