If Not Metamorphic

Brenda Iijima

A sample poem from the book

(a brittle day passed by)

Said?
The deep sea?          A deluge?
               Anticipation?
The ever-present               dancing machines
               lunge?
                               Threatened to kill you?
Designed by whom               Designed by whom
                              Terrarium?
Departure it seems,                              doesn’t it
               By the roadside?
Threaten to kill               you?

A soft, green, beautiful mountain?
The strangling, like anger?
One nude war?                              Kelp?
Illusionary?                              Encloses               the               neck?
                                             Kelp?

A snake was circling?
Made virtual?
Made virtual by design?
Threatened to kill—design
Threatened to kill?

Would
Would this be syncopated
slowly?

In the greatest country?
Threatening a soft, beautiful mountain?
Designed to be held in the hand? Hand
held? Will it securely?
Designed to hold 400 pounds? Will it hold
this weight securely?
Is that what you meant,
design