By Jim Price
Walk across a room and tilt the universe.
You can’t put a teacup on a table
without the saucer preparing for unauthorized flight.
Things really do just get up and walk away by themselves.
Don’t try and catch them in the act,
the spin is quicker than the spun.
There is so much motion that we tend not to notice.
Homeostasis. The set point of perception.
The modern world has conjured so much twisting
that we need to tie ourselves to a tree
to keep from being swept sideways by the hype.
Listen for the background noise,
the drip, drip, drip of tilted language.
Your cup of tea is made from the same water,
the weaving of words into a drinkable swill.
Think you’re too clever to down the drugged potion?
Opportunity looms in the unguarded moment,
casting lures that hide hook, line, and thinker.
Beware the mishaps of prophecy, the pinprick
that draws you into a hundred-year sleep.
Clutching at Straws 