Jeff Bagato
brass spittoons once so public
a grail—place to
deposite all hopes
when you miss &
hope goes awry,
or when you hit
and hope
overflows
creates a mess
for somebody else
when you’re looking for answers
the boy is the girl on the left
the girl is the boy on the right
taper to a period
a line to a heart
no best here
no better
algeny
alchemy
ontology
sight taken as fact/
face/
leads wrong
bearer beware
joiner won’t join
connector won’t connect
word won’t speak
gift won’t give
an element of surprise
wigwams are houses
even to the blind
like that
this like
like this
You’re trying to make, even if it’s just to have
conjugate collaborate
collude
collide
clip, as a coupon
clap, as in fandom
pay, as a patron
guard a nickel
some shekels
reaped
a scythe in sight
incite inside
beside common
what about conjugal
silent sagacity
or softly softly
channel stack/
stash
loaded
salted
hashed
A game again
that old gain
again
wished for not
invented
There’s this way
alert
abverse
adverse
tagging
tracking
trailing
trail failure
begone to bricks
enclosed by ink loss
evidence holds
fact in place
even inverted
for the course
Purpose built
storehouse
storing stories
No need for a key
change the meanings
and the fact inside
changes too
tandem align
braiding like breathing
diffidence
confidence cluster
rebound
reboot
rebuild
reset
There’s a button for that.
a daily
dose
of routine
some certain
sunder
a key, of course
adage on point
switch locator
heart monitor
a gentle reminder to
actual
exist
spatter. bits
haggle
remit or remorse
rattle. sect
congestion
agony deflate detect
describe rattle
describe spatter
remorse
repeat
repeater
amplify. motorize
machine in the
machine
render. ration
texts
describe texts
Wooden Lightbulb
mast melon ambiance
chest radial
spin bailey whopper well
plas-kit
YOT
Channel IDK
jobber
jabber
jitter
align. alien.
alignment
bait a wild. capture
pull tab
chest high television
keep eye on
the bank
last natural
a various harvest
cold capture
not wild no
more
mass calculus
Sadie
Sally
sherpa
a long goodbye
some rage
some toxic masc.
fantasy
polt. polecat
probable
probable cause
infinite universe
infinite probability
mass calculus
mistake to add
check formula keeps happy
in heart
third gender includes everybody
refugees from the
waiste
Obligation
wag the dog
bite the dog
fly the flag
remember this day
d’accord
acceptable misfortune
same everywhere
same on the moon
the same place, now,
with heaven
in mind
asteroids or angels
pokes or pegs
daybreak to dusk
online ablatus
same everywhere
window on the world to nowhere
chat master cockerel
talent content kibble catering
dopamine depth charges
halitosis action
punt or bunt
sick saddle
played perspective
pages isn’t it
bracket ruin
flap apply
applied
best possible never
available
Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as mail art, electronic music and glitch video. New books for 2022 document experimental text work from the past few years, including In the Engine Room with Bettie and Andrea Reading Pornography, Gonch Poems, Robot Speak, and Floral Float Flume: Flue Flit Flip. A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.wordpress.com.