the accelerated reader

he came over for coffee and muffins

and I slipped a book of “Selected Poems”

by William Carlos Williams toward him

from across the table.

I asked him to turn to the opening poem

and read "January Morning".

the accelerated reader opened to the page

and as quickly closed its cover.

“okay. I read it.”

he began eating the muffin at 9:15

and finished eating it at 9:22.

his body took whatever time it takes

for the digestive system to process the muffin.

an hour before the muffin's incident, my friend

drew a picture of Carles Casagemas drinking wine

at a gathering in Paris, I think.–– anyway,

it took 20 years for Casagemas to kill himself.

it took God 6 days to create the firmament before he took a nap.

it took nearly 7 years for me to murder Santa Claus

and an eternity for my hand to reach Sandra deCosta's breast

on the rolling twilight grounds of the Ponta Delgada.

as for the accelerated reader,–– a tsetse fly would’ve

taken longer to read “January Morning”.