Frank OHara tried to write
“In the deeps there is a little turd,”
but his editor, Gordon Short, thought
that wouldn’t be popular,
that his public would not be especially pleased,
so he changed the turd to bird.
Many roads lead
down the Avenue to one’s personal doom.
All in all there’s little room a successful truths.
Dante’s dimly lit, but disciplined world
had a slot for him that was a long way from home:
a pot of ink, a bunch of quills,
a napkined room (for us as well)
to blur the meaning of whatever words we use,
just so long as the boats don’t rock
and we keep those guys with the guns amused.