BROTHER PROTOPLASM

for Michael McClure

SINGS

his lyrical paean

of

ONE-NESS WITH THE OTHER

SINGS

his hyperbolic beef panegyric

of

PROTEAN PROTEIN

our

MISSING LINK.

THINK

ABOUT IT!

Think about

the carbon chain crossing the phylogenetic plane:

HORIZONTAL

NOT

VERTICAL

HORIZONTAL NOT VERTICAL

a

new way

to

THINK ABOUT IT(!)

FREE

from the highfalutin philosophy

of

benedictions

interdictions

maledictions,

ALL FICTIONS

of the

OUGHT

that

OUGHT NOT BE.

Instinctively,

it appeals to me

as it would

to any creature's

SHARED CELLULARITY.

WE ARE ONE!

THE HEART, THE SOUL, THE BELLY!

At the herb shop and the deli

of

isms & schisms

SECTARIANS SPLIT(!)

(different but same)

over

"WHERE'S THE BEEF?"

between

the Many & the One

a divisive didactic tactic

rarely well-done.

WHAT A RELIEF(!)

to hear

UNCLE MEAT

from his cell proclaim:

"THE MINK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH"