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Poetry for Carom
Published onMay 13, 2024
Poetry for Carom
Lessons (1990)
By Neal Bowers
Carom, 1986
Bruce White (American, b. 1933)
High strength aluminum, painted
Commissioned by the Iowa Art in State Buildings Program for the Black Engineering Building.
Who taught aluminum to jive like that?
Who taught aluminum to dance?
Look at it twist and dip and split!
Watch that aluminum prance!
I need to learn some aluminum steps.
I need aluminum grace.
None of my limited, minimal moves
can match aluminum’s pace.
How do you limber a sheet of aluminum,
get aluminum into the mood?
Would it improve my ballroom style
if I ate some aluminum food?
What kind of beat makes aluminum shimmy?
What makes aluminum take
such a dangerous, difficult, tango torque,
the kinds my bones can’t fake?
Better to let aluminum risk
those bends that could be breaks.
World As Will And Idea (1992)
By Robert Dana
Carom, 1986
Bruce White (American, b. 1933)
High strength aluminum, painted
Commissioned by the Iowa Art in State Buildings Program for the Black Engineering Building.
The idea set a-sail like
a luffed number, a four,
perhaps, or treble clef
unfurling, borne on and
bearing its own breeze,
and ploughing up music
like the sea, taller
than a man can stand.
Anyone tells me again
the body is ninety percent
water, I'll scream.
It's a hydraulic system.
And love is engineering.
Pier and backbone.
Cantilever and torsion.
Dolphin, harp, and anchor.
Imagine her standing here,
tapping her foot in time.
The color of her eyes.
Color of her hair-
ribbon blowing in the wind.
