Daniel C. Remein

X-Files, S.4, E.21

Note on format: This poem has two parts arranged side by side. When viewed on a larger screen the two sections will appear as adjacent columns that can be read separately, straight across, or simultaneously. On a smaller device the two parts may appear sequentially.

squelch the faucet 
there was boredom previously 
is it a seed pod 
do not enter 
the familiar cleanser is light green 
metal lattice glows from below 
a fraudulent request in blue light 
there is a report on microscopy 
an affirmation of unnecessary death 
portability becomes increasingly important 
the claw-end finds a sweetness 
that was made with an electrical typewriter 
it must have been loud when the screen was eaten 
to time the delivery trace a scooped incision 
everything I know 
winces float over the assurances 
an instructor writhes 
he speaks of the packages but he already knows 
the lever attacks the tank 
appreciable adjustment to the dark 
if then if then 
rays of orange point above a ringing sound 

a lot of bees are crawling around 
select all is selected and the monitor clunks off 
magnetic noise comforts 
some strings then a sour sound 
a metal box for new work 
the angles share in the color 
one of them is a glass of stop bath 
assurances like paper airplanes 
a sweater as green as a candy shop 
something else reflects 
jelly and luck abound 
adjacent surveillance hums 
the cause of symptoms is a sharp thing 
a ten minute break 
scrolled and scrubbed for certainty
he has nothing to expose 
assurances choke the big chair 
tests are refused 
firearms are barely usable 
if then if then 
flashes but just to the side 
the last bit is just glowing 

Learn more about this poem.

Daniel C. Remein is the author of the full-length collection, A Treatise on the Marvelous for Prestigious Museums (punctum 2018) and the chapbooks Pearl (OPR) and Picket Songs (Dispatches from the Poetry Wars). A co-founder of the Organism for Poetic Research, he is an Associate Professor of English at UMass Boston, where he teaches comparative poetics, moving between the medieval and the 20th century. His critical work includes the monograph, The Heat of Beowulf (Manchester University Press, 2022), and the volume (co-edited with Erica Weaver), Dating Beowulf: Studies in Intimacy (Manchester University Press, 2019). He lives in a small mill town in Massachusetts.