The fate of the inter-
office matchmaker

is to be forever
sitting on press

releases intuiting one
big happy time zone.

Whither the lamplight
and moreover

the magic beans—
surely the prospectus

will guide us?
He says my heart

beats in the sun,
he says I’m just saying,

he says nobody
just says,he says

the troops are literal
and I’m working

on my skee-ball game,
he says we serve

at the pleasure of
harm’s way,he says

Muzak has gotten
really sophisticated,

he also says poison
grows and grows

everywhere and will
outrun us all.

Mark Bibbins has written The Dance of No Hard Feelings, forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press, and the Lambda Award-winning Sky Lounge. He teaches at The New School and lives in New York City.