I was flipping through one of my older poetry books—Dreaming of Lemon Trees: Selected Poems (Finishing Line Press, 2019)—and I came upon “Jumpcuts of Thought.” I like the stupid absurdity of it, and I thought I would share the poem, since many people have not read it in book form. It’s also one of the only poems I’ve written that employs the use of rhyme.

Jumpcuts of Thought

Clorox shine
and Rust Belt mine.

Ruddy hue
and Spade gumshoe.

Tootsie Pop
and soiled mop.

J.S. Bach
and Shakur, Tupac.

Codeine high
and ham on rye.

Minnie Mouse
and adobe house.

Petrie dish
and sardine fish.

Rockwell print
and strand of lint.

Ruby Dee
and Wounded Knee.

Swollen lip
and radar blip.

Clark Gable
and Aesop fable.

Toilet seat
and sirloin meat.

Shower stall
and Camus’s The Fall.

Mustard green
and college dean.

Lowell, Mass.
and Namath pass.

The odd pairings
go on and on,
in this celebration of incongruity—
a verbal exercise
to stimulate the mind.