A New Poem by Gregory Wredberg for Everyone

1.

The dragon sleep at noon,
but the monkey wakes at midnight.

Condensation coats their enclosure.
Icy illness penetrates their
soul's jam preserve.

2.

My most painful experiences
have been listening to
Aaron tell me what he
thinks of me...
Or when I think of how
I should be or what I am.
So... After 4,000 years
... in the next 4,000 years,
the human being

of themselves
fortuitous opportunity
for inward discovery

3.

Complacent in Jail
Fred forges iron
locks, a serene mind.

45 foot tall tree,
temperate blue sky,
metal bars on window,
spotless bare hall.

Toast, no butter,
white bread, 1 ounce
packets of grape jelly,
Creamy Peter Pan.

Few smiles. Court TV
in the bright fluorescent
cafeteria.

Childer got a fistful of
pansies. His raucous
Caucus mountainous shoulders
twinkle with trickles

of nightly, dandy growth
serum, from natural
plant-human-sealife

wounds. Avast, avail,
as all recycle neon-green
squeegee juice solutions.