I once fell madly in love with a face
but faces look strange now. Why did I care
so much for a face? I’m interested in the ad
which shows two people hugging
and that person smiling. Now it is clear.
The fakery there is the fakery here.
Life imitates art—yes, the cliché is true.
The soul is not in the life. People adrift.
Bad haircuts. The persistence of the bad life
mocking Romantic ideals. Now it is clear.
The fakery there is the fakery here.
The fakery in the fiction is repeated
in the words we lisp in life. The gestures
that appear to matter! What a perfect theme
for my poem. It’s the dream and the dream!
Pathos equally in both places! Now it is clear.
The fakery there is the fakery here.