my words are vacant
it is difficult
to imagine
circumstances different
to exactly these
I write process documents
so that anyone
can do it
so that tomorrow
a temp can come in
and have no excuse
like simple poems
where a poet can walk in
and have no excuse
*
what I mean
is something about
administrative labour
and simplicity and directness
the point being
about what happens
before you get in the door
maybe when
that building’s foundations were laid
but also not
that it is lost
in advance
what I meant
I said imperfectly
*
the poem is not simple
it is complicated
like getting around
the town or country
or between
is complicated
I wish I could
enumerate how
but I can’t count higher
than seven
and sometimes that seven
is like the upper
part of an irrational
fraction
*
the ingredients
were mushed up
in the cream
then poured onto a plate
and cold-fried
then she scraped them up
into rolls
and put them
in a cup
a desperate artisanal
present in regress
from passive
to active
the skills like shells removed
