Clinical Thermometer Set with Moonstone

By Alice Notley b. 1945 Alice Notley

I don’t have any sentiments

would somebodything thirst my quench

how about

about my mediocrity of character? I dance

with the dead divinely

in my dreams

I’m stricken deaf when I mention it my babies

cry they want everything quick! here. un-

mentioned

as character should be

like the purpurine it needs must be carved in,

please

Have you heard of the roguess elephant with the

brilliant diamond eyes? She is the puppet

of the dictionary

where is her beautiful orange

juice?

puppy foot!

When your father dies

he doesn’t let you swoon

into aventurine or spray

of lily (pearls) of the valley

you do not bifurcate

you may

supplicate

play yourself to your camp heroine

self—play it Lady play

but delete no matter

thank you for breakfast

today we will visit with the ear syringe

be the current density

honey flower

ice egg

I love you as a fan loves air. oops it’s I

vice-versa I

told you about that

character

She is a bezel

awaiting the plop of a

ruby she must grow

chronically

and I can’t end and I can’t lie

here

He held him in his own heart then

may I in my eye now me

Alice Notley, “Clinical Thermometer Set with Moonstone” from Alice Ordered Me to Be Made (Yellow Press Books, 1976). Copyright © 1976 by Alice Notley. Reprinted with the permission of the author.

Source: Alice Ordered Me to Be Made (1976)

Biography

Alice Notley was born in Arizona and grew up in Needles, California. After earning her BA from Barnard College and MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Notley traveled extensively around the US and abroad. In 1972 she married the poet Ted Berrigan and had two sons with him, the poets Anselm and Edmund Berrigan. Active in the New York poetry scene of the 1960s and ‘70s, Notley is often identified with the so-called Second . . .

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