erik anderson

3 from The Identity Event


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......................................in what’s turned to a slum, I turn on the TV

......................................it’s Peter Sellers’ Being There: I understand

......................................the past cripples “all

......................................that’s coming into a life,”

......................................pushes against our attempts

......................................to say it is this, or

......................................is it possible I

......................................have these games to hide behind

......................................(the cat playing in the curtains)


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In my dream it’s my job

to sweep the seething worms and rubble

into the center of a large fire pit

behind the back porch, black

rocks in a ring around it—

the idea being, make

sand fertile sans

any agent of

industry, ruin mixed

with peristalsis, which

is nature stirring. Wait—


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..................................................................GIFTS TO GROW OLD WITH (a dodge):

..................................................................Two scholars were engaged
..................................................................to be married they were

..................................................................asked to choose by a third
..................................................................party the poem

..................................................................responsible for
..................................................................or expressive of

..................................................................their shared intuition
..................................................................of the world. The wedding

..................................................................came and this third
..................................................................party presented the two

..................................................................with a shiny new
..................................................................set of knives


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return to sawbuck 3.2

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Erik Anderson has new work in the current or forthcoming issues of Trickhouse, Dear Camera, Versal, Fou, and The Laurel Review. He co-edits the mail-art magazine Thuggery & Grace and is a contributing poetry editor at the Denver Quarterly.