MR. JONES MAKES POETRY
Based on a painting of the same name by Raoul Hausmann, 1920
With your coffee grinder and your vacant
blue stare, you look almost human,
Mr. Jones, almost capable of desire.
On the table, a green cylinder
calibrates the span of your palm,
a reassuring gesture of precision,
while the armless mannequin
is an extra body, should yours wear out
or lose the power to produce combustible words.
The mannequin has a knob instead of a head.
It stands ready to stand in, an understudy,
while each side of your symmetrical
mustache, Mr. Jones, mirrors the curve
of the coffee grinder’s handle.
When cranked, the mustache moves on invisible gears,
each side alternates up and down like a piston,
and produces heat,
something actually alive.
—Kim Roberts