Happiness, the Root of All Happiness 
 
A bee, dogged
amidst the clover,
soldiers home. Hercules 
freighted with his burden
of sweetness.

The Two Ravens`High Noon Tango

North. Two Ravens, both black.
High noon.
One to the east; the other to the west.
The echoing valley open before them.

The first Raven, loudly quoths he, `Nevermore. . .`
And the valley quivers more
                                        more
                                               more

Then the second Raven boldly answers, `Persevere. . .`
And the valley throbs severe
                                      severe
                                              sever

Victims of strange disorder forget names of animals
                                               National Inquirer

A photograph is a secret of a secret.
                                 Diane Arbus

Worse things could happen
than to encounter a dog
and not to know it as dog
To meet its nameless shape
and sense it for the first time

Worse to meet a caged image
One of Arbus`exotics
and sniff around it
searching for its name
smelling sadness
like a dream you only half remember

Arbus makes you forget
you ever knew the word for
freak
Forget all the names for freaks
that flew out of that swarming box
opened against dire warning

Forget, so that you feel the ghost stories
of each image seep into you
like ink on a lake
like light through space
like someone else`s blood
so that you are altered, teeming
with the strange disorder
of being human