Moda

 

MODA 

for Elizabeth Bachinsky

No, I don’t want to stay at your place

I need time and space and odder hours to deal with

a spectacular national celebration unequalled

since Expo ’67 in Montreal. It’s not fair to

expect me to adhere to your eccentricities

No, I don’t want to stay at your place

I will have my own. What a city! But no

I’m coming, but no. I can’t possibly stand

a spectacular national celebration unequalled

since the 1851 World’s Fair in London

I found a hotel. It’s cheap. A legacy project. Moda. So

no, I don’t want to stay at your place

Travel, uneasy. Your city, stifling

Everyone clamours their cultural capital there, at

a spectacular national celebration unequalled

since Deculturation. I will write a poem, meet for whiskey

You will bring me a gift and I will get sick and you will insist, but

no, I don’t want to stay at your place

I’m sure it’s spectacular, unequalled