New Poetry by Ian Ganassi

Test Pattern

Watching the cold brittle mountains devolve into memory,

It wasn’t much of a leap from one side to the other.

The other was significant in making two,

And then a third was on the way. 

It was a miracle, breathing in

And out. Up and down. The song went on from there.

The sky flinging rain around like confetti

Was better than a downright deluge.

I had just called the anxiety taxi,

And there it sat,

Waiting for the time to break down.

Daylight savings:

We lost an hour, but before long

We didn’t even miss it.

I’ll pick you up in 20 minutes he said. 

“Ever do much boondoggling?”

Check your racing form. 

“There’s something dashing about it.”

Dashing to the hospital. Dashing to the morgue.

“Which way to Sloan Kettering?” asked

The Marlboro man, from the saddle.

But let’s not break our arms

Patting ourselves on the back. 

“I’ll say,” she used to say, “I’ll say.”

- © Ian Ganassi 2020

Ian Ganassi's work has appeared recently or will appear soon in numerous literary magazines, such as New American Writing; BlazeVox; Twisted Vine, Manhattanville Review, Visitant, and The American Journal of Poetry, among many others. My poetry collection Mean Numbers was published in 2016. My new collection, True for the Moment, is forthcoming from MadHat Press. Selections from an ongoing collaboration with a painter can be found at www.thecorpses.com.