Marc Rahe, "To First World Problem Solve"

A response to James Gouldthorpe

Mechanical production of the re-.
Given the problem of X,
solve for the solution is more.
To solve for potential, cock
the hammer. Double the number
of finger bones of a child's hand --
a flight of shirts. Oh sunlight,
there are so many weeds, yet

you won't ignite the sky.
Therefore, is is is is an argument
to feel gratitude for what one
does not have to have. Wings
in the ear -- air compressions
of metronomes, of dripping ceilings.

 

Great_American_Novel__11.jpg

Marc Rahe

Marc Rahe is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop. He is the author of The Smaller Half (Rescue Press, 2010), and has a second poetry collection forthcoming in 2015, also from Rescue Press. He lives in Iowa City, and is an Office Manager at Goodwill Industries. His poems have appeared in journals including IO: A Journal of New American Poetry, jubilat, PEN Poetry Series, petripress.org, and Sixth Finch.