Lost Poetry

I carried my poetry in an old Leather valise closed and opened with A pleated accordion top that Kept my notches recorded in little Books and tiny magazines from Small universities and shimmering Ambitious pressed until One day in a thunderstorm, My valise was swept away and I had To start all over Every poem save memories Washed away like bottles with notes Bobbing in the waves Going away, receding into the Depths and I could not swim Bravely or fast enough or smart enough And the rescuers could not deal with bottles of Poems Sheaves of paper Unpublished manuscripts lost at sea. A baboon eating cereal guarded the Waters, slapping at my creations Sending them further and further away Until a tear in my heart collapsed And I backed away into a higher dimension Starting a new poem that I carry in my new valise Still time and explosions to be filled