"Trade Down" - Mark Flanigan

"Trade Down" - Mark Flanigan

How did this happen? Who
gave birth to whom?

Whose wallet am I holding?
Whose I.D.?

Has anyone figured
anything out yet? Why

the sky’s blue, for instance,
or where time truly goes?

To think we share
so little space,

are faced with, outside,
so green a grass! Goodbye

to glasses, or look away,
we have served notice to meaning—

having jumped to safety
from over 100 flights up—

we will fall, like all civilizations have fallen,
with stubbornness instead of grace,

and last the day
because of it.

Put down the holiday catalog and step away from the mall: Cincinnati poet Mark Flanigan returns to the stage tonight at Word of Mouth beginning its fifth year of readings. He was the first featured reader in December 2009 -- the monthly first-Wednesday meet of authors and readers begins around 8 p.m. upstairs at The Globe.