Responding to the Busy Monster, Mr. Cummings

i thought i had found the good universe, 
knocked next door these days these days. 
these days these days, i tend to—no more— 
see razorblades when i look out the
window. deify—no more—no mountain ranges. 
pity this whimsy, nestled in the apple-
rations where i dream of far-off, 
distant, small apocalypses, lost a clip of 
lofted mist—
            (you don’t know what i mean)
                                     (or maybe you do)
i thought i had found the good universe 
these days. these days i think the universe 
might be bad and in fact it is god
who is good.                           and failing.
                          but the woman next to
me just cried to an empty room: “God,a
 Why Am I Not Sensing Your Help?”
so unfortunately, worldunkind, razor- 
blades persist.                                 I think.
                         these days these days i
sit in my hospital bed and i read
ee cummings while i think of you, 
ending the world off in georgia. 
there are mountainranges, there, too.

Elijah Comas is an interdisciplinary artist and cook who is vigorously obsessed with (1) the idea of hospitality and (2) the fact that we can turn anything into a symbol if so we choose. He is a Religion major at Wesleyan University where he studies Christian origins, Islamic traditions, and Anticolonial Performance. Elijah also serves as the Artist Director of The Angry Otter Project, an artist’s collective dedicated to unfinished and underfunded works, and as the Executive Chef of Wit’s End Manor, a traveling pop-up restaurant slash secret theatrical experiment slash embodied writing practicum slash search for friends.