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FURTHER READING
Poems by Oni Buchanan
Dear Lonely Animal,
Maroon Canoe
Today Mr. Rufo
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Text Message

 
by Oni Buchanan

oni, u rancorous scam, u  r  no rare ace.
no common sense. no sure win.
no amour. no sex. no career.
no suave swimwear, size six.
no amazonian eminence.
no renaissance in consciousness.
mere ire over asinine nuance.
u  r  so mesozoic era.

u rinse romaine + secure onions.
u use sour cream on venison.
u season noxious wieners.
coarse carnivore, u even wean + crisco sows  
+ worse, simmer simian viscera   
+ savor maximum cinnamon.
moreover, u evince ruinous manners.

ever since u came,
nauseous raccoons swoon + swerve near cars in manassas, va.
immense moose rave averse in maine.
monas wince in cameroon + zaire.
caimans careen in irreverence in so. american rivers.
nice vicunas amaze in serious cusses.
ewe emissions serve as severe consensus.
vermin vow never near.
even sea anemones voice censure.
wrens, vireos, caracaras, anis, emus, swans, macaws, canaries + cranes
maroon u, swear avian au revoir.
messiaen concurs.
eminem weaves mean verses on u.

o, oni, scorn us now,
now ur careworn carcass awes us.
a carrion-crow carves ur cameo, no
novocaine. incisive. immune.
nerve minus nerve is zero, or
noose, noon, nirvana: an
oceanic oasis. a rearview mirror.
can u recover now, oni?
can u crown ur cranium now, 
can u rise in ur worm ascension?

we are ur vice, ur versus, ur
vice-versa, ur mesmeric new avarice, 
ur concussion, ur amnesia (a caesura is u now, oni.)
(a caesura is ur new maison, ur caisson casa.)
we are ur arsenic, ur assassin, 
ur anemia, ur anorexia nervosa.
we consume u, corrosive. we assess u.
we are ur vision, ur rescue mission, ur anima, 
u. we use u. ur winsome camera crew:

coroner, commence exam, + camera man, zoom in:
a waxen woman, wear-worse.
corneas, ears + nose aswarm.  
some recession on cranium.
venomous incisors, enormous.
varicose veins.
cursive arms over cavernous core.  
nurse: scissors, ammonia.  
carve in, coroner: mince, examine:
carmine amnion. uranium in urine.  
in marrow, one amino amiss.
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Audio Clip
August 5, 2008
The Arsenal, Central Park, New York City
From the Academy Audio Archive



From Spring, published by University of Illinois Press. Copyright © 2008 by Oni Buchanan. Used with permission.
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