Poem: fluid cupid

A longtime postcard poet, Buck Downs has been sending out monthly poems to readers since the 1990s, and his work, often unsigned, can also be found affixed to light poles and other urban surfaces, distributed via social media feeds or heard at the other end of the telephone line. His poetry often reflects the immediacy and wit demanded of its modes of distribution. In “fluid cupid,” the mixed-up nature of life itself is the unforeseeable consequence of the mating of a good and bad time. This is the zeitgeist as eavesdropped upon, then shaped up, given sonic punch, made resonant with the quirky agonies of the soul. Selected By Anne Boyer

fluid cupid

by Buck Downs

a good time
and a bad time
had a baby

and it remained
unnamed
a very long time —

a poet in the ballpark
a painter at the races

a preacher
of saturday nights
and a big-time
gambler in bed —

most parents truly
do not have a clue

all the lines
that must be crossed
to get where
baby needs to go

Anne Boyer is a poet and an essayist. Her memoir about cancer and care, “The Undying,” won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. A native of Jones County, Miss., Buck Downsdivides his time between Ellisville, Miss., and Washington, D.C. His latest book is “NICE NOSE” (Buck Downs Dot Com), based on the sticker-poems found at his Instagram account, @thesomethingfornothing. His poems can also be heard at Night Poems Uploaded Freshly, 202-569-8076.