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Kant Means Can’t
Kenneth Koch said that if something isn't
Working in a poem then do it more, like
If the word subtrahend isn't working
Then keep using the word subtrahend
And naturally the word minuend will
Appear which can be a beautiful thing.
But should that principle also be used
In other areas of life, like if you don't
Take a shower before a job interview
Should you never again take a shower?
Ha! Of course not because you can't
Impose Kant’s categorical imperative
On everyday issues of personal hygiene
So remember: Kant means can't! Ha!
Bullnose/Bernstein
Snifter is his favorite word but
How often in the course of a year
Does he hear snifter? Once? Twice?
It's much the same with nosegay,
Another word he loves. Or bullnose,
Except maybe four or five years ago
He heard a beautiful French woman
Say bullnose referring to the corner
Of a marble kitchen counter and now
Not a month passes without his thinking
Of Sylvie-Delphine, as Bernstein says
In Citizen Kane, except a month is far
Too long. Every week and every day
And every hour and every nanosecond!