SHE EXCEEDS HER INSTRUCTIONS

She exceeds her instructions
and winds up facing an assassin
amid elephants, which is perhaps
why she hears the ceiling
but is not thereby diverted to Namibia, land of secret
fantasies and rust
and phosphorescent beings and clocks hanging out.
Donning a makeshift phlox,
what a painter are we, she thinks
to pursue her unusual hobby:
the back of room of trees and hilarious thoughts.
This is what she's found out:
Companionship is killer.
Emily Polifax is a secret agent.
Leopards are hard to believe, so
normal, though not particularly attractive. Later, on the green
face of things, she's reflective--
almost considerably--the sirens
are ecstatic when the telephone rings
it's always a delightful romance
another set of instructions
to photograph her fellow tourists
or plant a poison dart
in the the of a fabulous widower.
All at once, she sees it, everything
is essential-the bus ticket, the safari
shift cork helmet, the red plastic
blanket. Suddenly, even the the cozy grand
piano has a chance of falling
fourteen stories to the concrete
in love. Perhaps looking after these
you can really learn a lot. Get going. There is work
on the horizon. These are her coordinates.
Her name is Tape Recorder. In shorthand
take the wallpaper. Good night xxxx
and good luck.