ABOUT

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

ARCHIVE

LAGNIAPPE

MAST

SUBMISSIONS

Two Poems
by Hugh Steinberg


Snails

And you say sunlight,      and no one talks
about           sunlight though      it’s pouring out
of our ears. It’s fine             to sit in the    garden,
it’s ok sometimes             just to sit there.
The tracks of        snails glisten             for days.

So the black ocean,     and the           attracting force:
it matters, it        matters, it turns and      it matters. Brace
the tomato plants          back into their cages, tie
the cages        back against        the fence.
You, in your love,        your favorites, your        thoughts
belonging to       a new country.



Subtle

Can you        count that high?         Eat
eggplant,        think about         yarn on spindles,
the Texaco ad on the wall.        You have to be        subtle. I
don’t know            how to be subtle.       No one has to
kiss my           decoder ring.         I gave
you my decoder ring, I         no longer have to
explain anything.           I am a house,
I keep       a smaller house
in my pocket.