It's like ants
and more ants.
West, east
their little axes
hack and tease.
Your sins. Your back taxes.
This is your Etna,
your senate
of dread, at the axis
of reason, your taxi
to hell. You see
your past tense–
and next? A nest
of jittery ties.
You're ill at ease,
at sea,
almost in-
sane. You've eaten
your saints.
You pray to your sins.
Even sex
is no exit.
Ah, you exist.
"After finishing a novel, I was in that drifting place, scribbling, taking notes, slowly collecting drafts toward a new book I'm calling 4:30 Movie. Terrance Hayes suggested I try to write an 'anagram/word scramble' poem–a form he'd 'invented.' As with any form or prompt, sometimes it leads somewhere, sometimes not, but there's always a surprise, and my first attempt ended up in another poem: 'If you think in anagrams, / parades and drapes, diapers, rape, despair and aspire / all come out of paradise.' Depending upon mood or poem I give myself different formal conditions, but every line must end (and in some poems begin as well) with one of the words that comes out of the scramble. Sometimes I use this to 'warm up'–to play. Sometimes I try it when I'm anxious–hence the title of this one."
–Donna Masini
The poem, from Donna's book 4:30 Movie, was selected by Sherman Alexie for The Best American Poetry 2015, the poem originally appeared From Poem-A-Day, www.poets. org