Anthony Seidman

Two Allegiances

I hold two allegiances: this terrain, & the night.

Between them, falls the eternal:
sun, earth’s orbit, minerals,
vegetation, hibernation of bears.

These foothills, chaparral,
are my country, these gas stations,
these sub-par public schools, vacant
lots & miles of asphalt…

they are the sigil
I behold thru smog:

California, veiled
in black, passes by holding
a bloody carnation;

I click key in ignition, hear
engine turn-over with a groan,
then set
this hearse in motion.

Anthony Seidman © 2010

The Trilobite

A Cambrian thru Permian
eras invertebrate, crawled

& burrowed in shallow ocean stretches
for millions of years,

feeding on organic ooze &
particles from the sea-floor,

legs pushing nutrients
into their mouths also propelled

them thru sediment.

They were lovely,
with a chitinous armor

that resembled the lines &
interstices on a Mondrian;

as with the modern lobster,
crab, they seasonally cast

off their shells, leaving
the amateur & paleontologist with

thousands of effigies like
abandoned cars overtaking a vacant lot.

Anthony Seidman © 2010