JACK TRICARICO IS A NEW YORK CITY PAINTER, POET, AND T'AI CHI INSTRUCTOR WHO HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN NUMEROUS POETRY JOURNALS AND ANTHOLOGIES BASED IN NEW YORK CITY AND IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. HE HAS WRITTEN 7 CHAPBOOKS AND IS WORKING ON HIS 8th. HE LIVES IN THE EAST VILLAGE WITH HIS DOG BLANCA.
INVERT
I pause to acknowledge
Between this tick and another
As tic-tock-tick…
Goes merrily on
I have a feeling of being abbreviated
An acronym that spells an obscenity
In parenthesis
To dispel this impression
I count to a hundred
And look down at the world
Is life in the present
A shadow of numbers
That change without order
And end with a zero
Subtracted by one?
Am I talking to you, fire hydrant?
Since that which has two legs
And an absence of good will
Might spit, bite, or explode
Expecting the unexpected
(INVERT, continued)
I collide with a street
That walks through my body
And leaves me in doubt
To shrink and expand
With a shrug, or a wink
A hello, or goodbye
Am I man or amoeba?
INVERT
I pause to acknowledge
Between this tick and another
As tic-tock-tick…
Goes merrily on
I have a feeling of being abbreviated
An acronym that spells an obscenity
In parenthesis
To dispel this impression
I count to a hundred
And look down at the world
Is life in the present
A shadow of numbers
That change without order
And end with a zero
Subtracted by one?
Am I talking to you, fire hydrant?
Since that which has two legs
And an absence of good will
Might spit, bite, or explode
Expecting the unexpected
(INVERT, continued)
I collide with a street
That walks through my body
And leaves me in doubt
To shrink and expand
With a shrug, or a wink
A hello, or goodbye
Am I man or amoeba?
