The Body

Sean Monett

Published by Sean Monett, 2020.

for S., S., and S.
1
 1. The Root

"AN INTRODUCTION TO the Body"

Where did all those ideas go?
I just had them a second ago.
I was heating up some facts I know,
Diced up some whimsy, wit, and woe.
Gave them a little time to grow,
So where did all my ideas go?
Are they behind this writer's block?
As big as a fridge, heavy as a rock.
I haven't the strength to lift it yet.
My body is weak, like paper when wet.
A body is much like a city
It is complex and pretty,
A map of twisting paths laid out
Where the citizen drama is played out.
Bodies are much like cookies with oats
Soft, rapidly drying, organic flesh coats.
Where did all those ideas run off to?
I was just talking about them to you.
Where are the beliefs I believe are true?
Where are the bits of truth in this stew?
Without them, there is nothing to chew.
The broth is thick with a liar's glue.
A body is like a pack of cigarettes.
Smells like death, causes your stress.
But it is a wellspring of relief.
A volatile soup of joy and grief.
Bubbling bodies breed and sleep,
As fumbling minds churn and creep.
Why did all those ideas leave?

2
 THE BODY 3

I'm alone, with heart on sleeve.

4 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 5

"ENDLESS"
All my friends think
I'm an alcoholic
The missing link
In the endless frolic
Is some piece of me
Where the dog barks
The only thing I see
At the holy ballparks
Is "hug me" and freeze
I want your friends
Grass stains on knees
Word salad blends
Want a farm-based life
But a city at night
In her boot is a knife
Bending to the right
All my friends think
I'm not saying it
All my friends
All my thinking
One depends on
The ends to justify
What it means
And it spends
Its dividends with
Fancy spins
That's just to clarify
What it means
All my friends think
6 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 7

"this is not a good poem"

Trying to write
A couple of good poems
Or to love correctly,
On purpose,
Is almost like
Trying to build a tree-house
By chopping down
The grand old oak
in your yard,
The one that you wanted
To build it in.
This is because
When you were
Staring at blank pages,
At neglected screens,
At empty relationships,
You lost some time.
Well, you spent it,
Which means, you know,
"on purpose",
But time, spent well,
Not wasted,
Is what you needed.
You are trying to
Write a good poem,
And to love directly.
I am not telling you
That you shouldn't try.
Of course you should.
I am saying, don't expect
To do better than failure.
I might be wrong.
Perhaps a good poem
Is not grown over years,
8 SEAN MONETT

Inevitably emerging
From some buried
Ugly acorn of truth.
Maybe loving well
And writing poetry
Is all about learning
To be content with
Your media content.
It is possible that your artworks
Are improved by your quirks.
THE BODY 9
10 SEAN MONETT

"WE NEED TO TALK"

I am so sorry, man.
I did not have a plan
It seems I left you
Having stolen your shoe
I stomped on your glasses
Do we both feel like asses?
No, it's just me, then?
Did I steal your favorite pen?
I found your yearbook
And the diary I took.
I stole cutlery from the drawer.
Drank your Hennessey and more.
I took a bath in your tub
Smashed that lamp with a club.
So, this is an apology,
Although I'm not sure that we
Will ever speak again
After I punched you, then
Sold your tv to a skinhead
Didn't check if you were dead,
Seems like a lot to forgive,
But hey, live and let live.
We all make mistakes, right?
We'll all have one bad night.
I might be worse than you
I did egg your house, true,
But should I be judged, you think?
Because of what I left in the sink?
Ok, I promise to clean it
When I promise, I mean it.
Please don't think ill of me.
I'm not asking you to love me.
I'm really sorry man,
I slashed tires on your van.
 THE BODY 11

I'll give you a ride today,

We need to talk, anyway.
12 SEAN MONETT
 2. The Sacral
"IN THE WASTELAND"
When dead,
We got our gingerbread,
Sugar-walled reward
With misty weddings
And ice-clear funerals
To entertain us
I couldn’t sleep,
So my heavenly roost
Became a stormcloud
But, unruffled of darkness,
I swept to kiss
The spring, expectant
Cleaning my place,
Just to entertain her,
We got our chili extra spicy
Because of the
Tax breaks and the
Side effects of the
Liquid gold injections
That are so fashionable
In heaven, up here,
It’s entertainment
We shine, We shine
Because the stars
All got scrawny and
Fell sick, into wishing wells
We cry we might
One day just break
On out of heaven
All night cruising
Past cliche Milky Way.
13
14 SEAN MONETT

We find, we find
New things to mock
Caves in need of
Ugly brown paintings
A library of lies
We lie, we lie
Turn out the lights
On tomorrow
Because noon sinks
Instead of skipping
We swam, we swim,
In spicy summer lakes
And counted our rewards
Looked forward to
The better cornbread
In the Wasteland of the dead
 THE BODY 15

"GARDEN"
I grew a garden in empty sky
In a ray of daylight blurring by
I grew lightning bolts
At a lightning speed
About 6 million volts
Is all that you need
I grew a crop of fine morning dew
Which materialized as fog so blue
I felt I was swimming
As I walked outside
The light was undimming
The sun growing bright
I hurried my harvest, pocketing papers
Got tax statements and paint scrapers
I grew one hundred cherry red cars
I grew nine hundred ninety billion stars
I grew a metric ton
Of cheap bubble gum
One cinnamon bun
And a 30 foot plum
I grew a garden in empty sky
I grew it one day without knowing why
I wished it all up and then gave it away
No sense saving it for another sunny day
16 SEAN MONETT
 3. The Navel
"PERSONA POSSIBILITIES"
Southern pastor screaming
Bored radio DJ dreaming
Dark villainous doom
Kid locked in teenage room
Fancy pants artsy hipster
Conniving grifter trickster
Awkward nerdy jerker
White collar office worker
Well-educated psychopath
Well-invested bureaucrat
Musical theater actor,
Useless trivia factster
Fake news info warrior
Fast talking taxi courier
Emotionally sensitive wimp
No-nonsense feminist pimp
Homeless beggar babbling
Rich entrepreneur gambling
Caffeinated sexy lover
Foreign sleeper cell undercover
Underpaid public bus driver
Bee-keeping deep-sea diver
Drug-addicted young pop star
Philosophy major tending bar
Deer hunting female realtor
Disgraced soldier doing heel-turn
Struggling small-town dentist
Stand-up comedian slash hypnotist
Gang-affiliated garbageman
Travelling Dave Matthews fan
Shady private investigator
17
18 SEAN MONETT

Ponzi scheming stock trader

I can't pick, amongst this list,
Without an identity, do I exist?
THE BODY 19
20 SEAN MONETT

"Soon"
A cockroach the size of a cat
A piranha with the wings of a bat
Point-blank gun spews mustard
Mother may I taste the custard
I just wanna lick the spoon
We all die, we all die soon
A beaver chews through wood
A woodchuck would if he could
A mix between scorpion and dog
A divorce lawyer sleeping in a bog
Three piece suit drips swamp juice
The tight fit is getting loose
Fashion model with shark’s teeth
Thorns on a Christmas wreath
A cockroach with the face of a cat
Wearing a suit and a baseball hat
Car crashes played to Yakety Sax
Grandma’s delusions mixed with facts
Boing sound effects repeating
Sproing Politics Cha-Ching Defeating
Broken repairman licking wires
Broke stockbroker tricking buyers
The truth requires liars
The endless fires need tires
Rubber is smoking, smelling foul
Drying off with a soaking towel
An armadillo eating Brillo pads
An anteater sniffing classified ads
Here’s my two week’s notice
Here’s a lobster-shaped lotus
Clear your mind and focus
Astrally reject your current locus
A swarm of cat-sized locusts
A growing network of slow cysts
 THE BODY 21

Point-blank gun squirts mayo

Mother may I just say so
I just wanna whistle a tune
We all die, we all die soon
22 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 23

"CHOREOGRAPHY"
A demure silence
The nature violence
It's all choreography
A little smiling
The settled tiling
It's delicate carpentry
A wild proposition
The dialed rendition
Of a delicate choreography
Dance deletes photography
Slapstick iconography
It's all choreography
Is that the gallery laughing?
You have something to ask me?
It's all bodily geography
A rough proposition
The perfect personal mission
It's all late apologies
A little inspiring
The brittle twine string
It's all choreography
The light throb
An easy job
24 SEAN MONETT

"UNSTABLE GROUND"
Understand but I can't say
Under the table, on the ground
Understate when I say
Unable to turn around
Under spells, falling down
Unstable situation, excited
Under all the big sadness
Ungrateful, unbound
Unhindered by a frown
Unbelievable, I know!
Unnerved by my
Unattainable old ugly
Unrealistic little goals
Underestimated my
Unnatural proclivities to
 THE BODY 25

Untie and undo the

Unctuous knot in my brain
Unnamed little pains
Unbutton, babe, and
Unhinge the binge
Unsurprised when you change
Unsettled when you cringe
Unstable ground
Quit jerking me around!
Under the label
Under your scowl
Unless you are capable,
Unverified sadness now,
Unearthed, easily, an
Unending undergrowth
Unyielding old groves of
Undulating ultimate urge
Unburden and splurge
Undermine me with words
Unto you be the spoils
Untangle your coils
Untamed unveiled untapped
Unable to see what happened
Unstaggering, you stroll
Unrelentingly control
Unglued, unused, cold
Unstuck tongue from the pole
Unhealthy thoughts just roll
Unfulfilled in my soul
Unexpected developments
Unintelligible, makes no sense!
Uninterrupted defense
Unrivaled elevation
Unforgettable sensation
Undeniable destination
26 SEAN MONETT

Unavoidable escalation
Unstable ground
Under the surface
Unsupported, falling down
Untouched and impervious
Unreliable, what a clown!
Quit jerking me around!
Unstable ground
Unrelated note, now
Unreasonable, don't know how
Unanchored from reality
Unauthorized access
Unrecognized passkey
Unfortunately, I will say yes
Unconsciously, I say less
Uncomfortable, obsessed
Unmistakable little sounds
Unattach and fall on down!
Quit jerking me around,
Unstable ground!
THE BODY 27
 4. The Heart
"JUST.. DON'T"
Don't tell me to feel well
Just dwell in my real hell
Don't reject me for perfect
Just protect every defect
Don’t say I have to stay
Just play around, go away
Don't use me to find clues
Just choose to be loose
Don't run away from fun
Just one and I'll be done
Don't feed me an apple seed
Just read until you are freed
Don't tell me to feel well
Just yell into a seashell
Don’t say I have to stay
Just a way to turn me grey
Don't feed me an apple seed
Just lead me to what I need
Don't tell me to feel well
Just sell me a new smell

28
THE BODY 29
30 SEAN MONETT

"BUCKET LIST"
I will loose a mighty, fearsome roar.
I will slowly rise and I will soar,
I will christen kings and shining knights,
Start and finish a thousand fights.
I will burn my childhood church,
Find a branch on which to perch,
I will battle eternal evil before I die.
I will drain the lake and boil the sea,
I will draw my family close to me,
I will wipe my nose upon my sleeve,
And decimate a mountain before I leave.
I will wander prairies in astral form.
I will whip a breeze into a roiling storm.
I will turn the cloudy sky to glass,
I will revolt for the working class,
I will see through my father's eyes,
Tell more than a lifetime of lies,
I will laugh and laugh until I cry,
And learn to tie a tie before I die.
I will unlock the puzzle of grace,
Throw mercy into apathy's face,
I will unearth a destiny of glory,
I will publish the ultimate story,
I will piss my name into the snow,
Breathe a frigid blizzard before I go.
I will achieve every whim and ambition.
I will accomplish an impossible mission.
I will swim upstream for winter,
Hear blaring trumpets as I enter,
I will sit a glimmering crystal throne,
Stalk a darkened forest all alone,
I will wield a giant flaming hammer,
Make the foes all shiver and stammer,
Crushing vast armies beneath my boots,
 THE BODY 31

I will educate barbarians and brutes,

I will sow chaos and the seeds of war.
I will find out what the world is for.
I will make a wise man feel a bumbling fool.
Of course, that's after I go back to school.
I will spread my wings, sow my oats,
Hear my name sung from rejoicing throats,
I will taste sweet freedom and sour grapes,
I will embark boldly from coasts and capes,
Do not sorrow for me when I sail away,
For the dawn will bring a brand new day.
I will be inside the trees, the rocks, the wind,
In the cycle of earth and sky, without end.
I will survey the land from way up high,
Sprout flowers from my eyes before I die.
32 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 33

"DEJA VU"
The plural honey
Sticky and runny
The room with a view
Splinters go through
Deja vu and
Double entendre, too
Many anxious mice
Frozen in pure ice
Skewered in honey
Blood running funny
Backwards uphill
Actors get a thrill
The last of the words
Thinking in herds
Of buffalo running
Conniving, cunning
Day got blue and
Double ennui over you
The plural of baby
It's messy, maybe
The house on the lake
Slithers like a snake
Many anxious mice
Honey is pure nice
Showered in money
Wet and yet sunny
One whiff of power
Sifting sludge sour
Deja vu and
Double entendre, too
Mess me up, stuck
Trade power for luck
Sticky night unfurls
Count sheep in plurals
34 SEAN MONETT
 5. The Throat
"POLONIUM"
We study, together, tired.
The school night deems us
Unworthy. For forty years,
A cancerous knowledge grew.
Eyes crying rancid tears
As her aplastic anemia
Met my apathetic aesthetic.
Advancing like armies,
X-raying livid young bodies
Sculpted. The result's in.
Marie Skłodowska Curie
Pure polonium and fury
Inching toward the dreary
Grip of midnight, eerie.
Trampled by the wavelength.
Gathering the wrong strength.
My pity didn't fit her well.
She wore chains until
The day she fell. She felt
Betrayed, Marie in lace and lead.
Tiny fingers felt heavy and dead.
As her frenetic fascination
Wrecked my faulty facade.
Displayed, free from tracing lines
A silhouette skillfully refines
To tell us nothing good.
She would, but she won't lie.
Eyes crying radioactive light.
A cat claws at hypotheticals.
The school night is experimental.
Throwing refutation down at us.
35
36 SEAN MONETT

Marie is glowing spiritually.

She is winning acclaim, her name
Stays just the same, she's proud
Of where she came from.
 THE BODY 37

Pure polonium and loss, gloss

On my eyes dries, I realize,
My anachronistic admiration
Is not appropriate appreciation.
Cutting chains, scanning brains
I am lost in nineteen-eleven.
Cats claw their way to heaven.
Uncertainty rules particles.
Observation is like fine lace.
My mask never did fit the face
Of Marie Skłodowska Curie.
38 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 39

"WARRIOR"
You are not a lover
You're a warrior,
And now you done
Wore yourself right out again.
You let someone
Get the jump on you and then,
They had their fun,
But you got them in the end.
You don't forgive
You don't "let live"
But once in a while
You make peace with your past
Declare a mistrial,
Let go of grudges at last.
Don't call it denial,
Don't put yourself on blast.
You're not a lawyer,
You're an explorer.
You find and claim,
Pillage, burn, reward yourself.
Leave trails of flame,
Villages who yearn for help.
Invade and rename,
Before you hoard your wealth.
You're no lover,
And we can't love each other.
You're no lover,
You're no sister, no mother.
You are a fighter.
You're the stand up, chest out,
No tears,
Fist clench, stressed out,
Throat clears,
Calm loud deep voiced,
40 SEAN MONETT

Logical romantic choice.

This is why he always destroys.
This is just what we tell the boys.
THE BODY 41
42 SEAN MONETT

.
"PARTIES"
Parties wilt and fall to dirt
The drugs fail and begin to hurt
Faith loses flavor, turning bland
Love devolves into hand in hand
It is not enough to just maintain
Simple joys can't calm the brain
And learning turns to knowing not
Knowledge burns insanely hot
And crazy brings no comfort home,
Crazy is a housecat who stalks alone
And chews on party's wilted leaves,
We know not what the cat believes
Friendship melts like candle wax
Messy strangers stained with blacks
Wander lost across your carpet
Burnt bridges find a cat to pet
Crazy purrs and shows its belly
Claws your leg and begins yelling
You say goodbye to your guests
The first to leave is happiness
You pick up trash, the broken bits
Of plates, cups and shattered wits
Your ignored, boring stories, again
Talked and trampled over, paper thin
THE BODY 43
 6. The Third Eye
"ALTERNATIVE ENERGY Sources"
The clerk tells me he's just
Glad to be above ground
Sure beats the alternative
I stand in line, take too long
I think about a happy death
I buy unhealthy, unearthly
Pleasures to numb my void
Sure beats the alternative
The gas station pulses with
The thick energy of footsteps
Sure beats the alternative
Unless you think silences are
Like ASMR videos for the soul,
Producing an ephemeral tingle.
I like my crowds a bit quiet
Sure beats the alternative
Some horrendous and loud
Throng of angry commuters
Sure beats the alternative
They could be starving today
They could be wiped out by plague
Sure beats the alternative
One day you might wake up
And find that you are their plague
Sure beats the alternative
Perhaps you've always dreamed
Of being a CDC infection vector
Of living inside 8 billion bodies

44
 THE BODY 45

Or hiding in the air, being breathable

Sure beats the alternative
For now, they find you unpalatable,
And stop responding, to your texts
Sure beats the alternative
Strung along, with fake interest,
By those vaccinated against us.
As I concoct cures for my disease
The clerk says, kindly, "please leave"
Sure beats the alternative
I appreciate that he wasn't mean
I am content with not being ignored.
Sure beats the alternative
46 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 47

"THE SYSTEM"
A thought oozes from an idea.
The disease begs for the panacea.
A calendar calculating a future,
The surgeon executing the suture,
A clock that clicks like a cricket,
The snake that creeps in the thicket,
A microwave nuking a burrito,
The hand flattening the mosquito,
A storm that obscures a sky,
The frog that captures the fly,
A cat who is sleeping in a sunbeam,
The nightmare pouncing on the dream,
A politician negotiates a deal.
The thief picks the best things to steal.
A frisbee marooned on a roof,
The detective collecting the proof,
A whisper turning into a riot,
The additives invading the diet,
A dilemma presents a choice,
The tone that hides in the voice,
A snail traversing a distance:
The system crushing the resistance.
48 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 49

"A SUNFLOWER"
I'd like a furnace sunset
In a furnished apartment
I very much like your butt
I'd love a slow burn swim
In lakes like eyes crying
For no particular reason
I think about your butt
I'll pluck stems from dirt
Even if it feels like work
For example, a sunflower
Soulful vocal chord tower
Looming like a church
Jutting out from the earth
I'd like a jumping rush
I'd like to see your butt
I'd like to sing about your butt
In tune with both of us
I'd love lovely weekends
In sunny Californian bays
Today the tower sparkles
I love your butt in jeans
I love to see you lean
Some shapely love above
I'll pluck from damp soil
The butt of an angel sprouting
Chewing up the bricks
Of a furnished apartment
I'm a slow nervous fit
Sinking in, in the first instant.
I stared longingly at your butt
Spreading for a pollination
Legs longing to sunset
And a photosynthesis.
50 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 51

"LIGHT"
An anxiety eats mental health,
Spits out seeds of depression.
A society that values wealth
Over the fulfillment of emotion.
We fight to define ourselves,
We peel the label off progression.
Much deeper the sun delves
Beneath the surface of the ocean.
Your midnight phone call felt
Darker, with playful aggression.
Your shining light always dealt
Fatal wounds in one smooth motion.
52 SEAN MONETT
 7. The Crown
"POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY Scan"
She might feel healing
Wound might be congealing
Mentally she draws straws
Whimpering, she scoffs, cause,
Gears in her brain caught,
Grinding, they skid stopped.
Straw came up short
She has no retort
Is a good sport,
The balls in my court.
She smiles, nods,
Pointless, she prods,
She might be concealing
Some nagging old feeling,
It doesn't show on the scans.
Wasn't drawn up with the plans.
Gears in her brain caught
Rising, the bubble popped.
We just might be dealing
With somebody's ceiling
Sure it looked like a floor
But that was before your
Footing came falling
Caving in, crawling
We are all
Just stalling
She might be healing
Wound might be congealing
Gears in her brain caught
What made her tick, doc?

53
54 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 55

"CHRIS R."
the still unfinished ghost of dawn
emerges from the supine corpse
of one hot summer night in July
we wake, and put each other on
like soft warm clothing perfumed
and assume our positions in the
far-flung search party for the truth,
for enlightenment and high fashion
and it is us, together and half drunk,
rosethorn gashes at the edge of dark,
who find him face down in the woods.
we tell him we are there, and he gives
one solid death rattle, and that’s that.
a blessed red wheelbarrow helps us
cart the man to the gravel, to the couch,
we call the next of kin and spend the night
with twenty-seven officers of the law.
56 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 57

"L."
Love this nature that makes you a beast
Love this tyrant and love this priest
Love the wreckage and love the bomb
Love your father and love your mom
Love your lover and love the haters
Love the troops and love the traitors
Love the sun when it wakes you up
Love the water that fills your cup
Love every hobo, bum, and thief
Love the good times and love the grief
Love the earth and love its plants
Love the elephants and the ants
Love the ocean and love the stars
Love your skin and love your scars
Love every hair on every head
Love all the living and all the dead
Love those who give and those who take
Love all the love that others make
Love your body and love your soul
Only through love will you find yourself whole.
58 SEAN MONETT
 8. The Aura
"SNAKE"
Step away from the skies
and the sounds that they make
look inward at your eyes
and your heart, watch it break
Your soul is tall grass
and your mind is the snake-
exploring the vast
empty landscapes of space

59
60 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 61

"LEADERSHIP"
A death’s-head chest
and a radioactive grin
a recycled manifesto
with a manufactured end
presidential eyes
and a million flags within
a thinker filled with apathy
a bible filled with sin
a ticker dripping time lost
with a hyper-biased spin
a prefabricated lifestyle
where the evil always win
always told it’s almost over
as our tolerance grows thin
grovelling for saviors who
wash our feet when we walk in
babbling about tables
turning over, who knows when?
62 SEAN MONETT
 THE BODY 63

"THE FLOOD"
The clouds are torn apart,
edges jagged and hanging
on the horizon line.
The vast ocean above is
revealed, floating there,
a perfectly clean abyss,
periwinkle and flawlessly
flat. Until, drop by drop,
turning into torrents and
sheets, it begins to fall.
Doubtless this valley
will be swept downriver.
Our homes become
part of the seas.
all our possessions,
all our family members.
And what can we be
attached to then?
The land that provided
for us, or the water,
periwinkle and flawlessly
flat, that rushed into us
with passion and nothing
to offer, was so in love
with us that it could not
hold back the flood?
64 SEAN MONETT
 About the Author
Sean Monett lives in Knoxville, TN. He has been drawing since he could hold
a pen and writing poetry since middle school, when he first read Shakespeare.
Three of the major poetic influences in his life are Ogden Nash, Lewis Carroll,
and Walt Whitman. He enjoys reading his poems at local open mic nights, the
derelict carwash, and family barbecues. His work can be found online at ‘Non-
sense Poetry Comics’.