172

'Death and taxes, taxes and death-
Lord, let me die solvent, ' he begged,
slipping the tax-check into the mailbox,
'Art worth more, the artist dead, '
he reasoned, reassured,
'after death I'll be rich.'

poem by Morgan Michaels
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Multiple Choice III: American Literature

please choose one only: Walt Whitman

1) was queer and wrote Leaves Of Grass

2) was queer but wrote Leaves Of Grass

3) was simply queer

4) had a blisterig affair with Thomas Eakins

5) none of the above

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Congratulations Minuet

Congratulations, congratulations
congratulations, congrat...

In a sort of loopy minuet
we fall together, fall apart,
then fall together, again.

...ulations, Congratulations,
congratulations, congrats...

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f

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sang 'Hark The Herald
Angels Sing'
Gliding around and around
The Wolman skating rink.

Gliding in train
And not to be outdone
Zelda his wife
Read from something called
'The Sporting Life'.

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Faust

The spell was broken. All that evil lay in shards
on the floor, like unseasonable scarves
shed along the backs of furniture.
Once-fiery little stones cooled and quenched underwater
each incantation unsung, each

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116

'It's not that he lies, ' she said,
her eyes snapping, her mouth re-shaping itself,
'it's that he doesn't tell the truth.'
Mercy! I thought-who did she think she was-
Henry James? Anyway,
she set a good table.

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Poem

The shade of a bird
flew through my head
and like a needle
pulling thread
drew on its tail
a diamond wake
that woke my fancys'
placid lake.
The shade is flown,
the wake is closed,
the Fancy, too,
Is recomposed

poem by Morgan Michaels
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American Literature: Choose One

Gertrude Stein
1) associated 'genius' with 'masculinity.'
2) was a self-admitted 'genius.'
3) co-wrote an opera with Dizzy Gillespie
4) passed a long, rather uneventful life in Queens
5) all and none of the above

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148

Long ago I guessed
a simple 'no' or 'yes'
preferable to words obscure and teeming,
obfuscating meaning.

However accidently
words, like men, are good at seeming:
more than four's palaver;
any more, you're dreaming.

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47

Ring, ring, ring. 'Utah! -
Probably the Morman Tabernacle Choir
calling for money,
pleased because it needn't any.'

'Hello, hello, hell-
o? Nobadaddy. Why? '
Probably just a blunder.
Just a wrong number.
'verywellwell, bye.'

poem by Morgan Michaels
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