"Travis & Iris," "The Government wants to see your data," and "Dig"

Travis & Iris

Belief entered into as if
it were the back seat
of a taxi. “Just drive”
she said, & used her glasses
to push the hair back
off her forehead. Movement,
or the method of. Conveyance
is so misleading. Could say.
The refrigerator stopped
& the elephants got out. Or.
Hollies’ song. Riding around
on a carousel. None of that.
Instead. Give directions. Sit back.
Get there. Pay the price.

The Government wants to see your data

                                 The insurance needs of
                                                      Mississippi hospitals &
                                     other regional health care
                                                providers are both search-
                                       able on your smartphone
                                                & satisfied by a blue T-
                            shirt. It is very strange to
                                             walk through there & see

                                 robots & algorithms in black
                            & saffron dhotis. Demand
                                            for the conflicting conun-
                                drums of privacy—liveli-
                                               hoods threatened or liberty
                                   offered—is high this year.

Dig

Take comfort
in, not the
small things
but the familiar.

Return to raw
Miles, those first
pick-up bands
that occasionally

found Coltrane
in there, equally
raw. Or the
Sherlock Holmes

stories. Bach for
the first time,
de Chirico &
​Hieronymous

Bosch. Byzantine
plazas, gardens
of earthly delights
which were

previously un-
known but so
familiar. Ancestral
memories, the

starting places at
which you still stop
by, to stand still
for a moment,

focus, & come
out of ready
to hit the
ground running.