First Stab at an Erasure

Original Poem:

A Waltz Dream
John Ashbery


She wasn't having one of her strange headaches tonight.
Whose fault is it? For a long time I thought it was mine,
blamed myself for every minor variation in the major upheaval.
Then...

It may have been the grass praying
for renewal, even thought it meant their death,
the individual blades, and, as though psychic,
a white light hobered just above the lake's layer
like a photograph of ectoplasm.

Those are all fakes, aren't they?
In sow-moving traffic a man acts like he's going to be hit
by the stream of cars coming at him from both directions.
Like a cookie cutter, a steamroller lops the view off.

There a nine sisters, nine deafening knocks on the door,
nine busboys to be bussed-er, tipped. And in the thievery
of my own dreams I can see the square like a crystal,
the only imaginary thing we were meant to have,
now soiled, turned under
like a frayed shirt collar
a mother stitches for her son who's away at school,
mindful he may not care, may wear
another's scarlet and sulfur raiment
just so he take part in the academy fun.

And later, after the twister, slowly
we mixed drinks of the sort
that may be slopped only on script girls, like lemonade.
Who knows what the world's got up its sleeve
next brunch, as long as you will be a part of me and
all what I am doing?




My Erasure:
(each section a run
through the original)



A Waltz Dream
(an Ashbery Erasure Poem)


1.
Fault is a long thought in me

Eve nor heaven pray for their death,
The thought hovers above them.

Aren’t they low-
The nesting busboys,

Thievery
The imaginary thing we meant to have

Soil red under a red shirt

A mother tits
for her son’s mind

Man may wear another’s scar and fur
so take part in the fun.

A date after the mixed drinks
The sort that slop script girls like lemonade

How the world got up next
you will beat me


2.
Having one of her strange faults
for a time I thought I was mine

It may have been renewal,
even though it meant the individuals,
though psychic,
are all fakes

There are nine dreams I can see

Like a mother
or her son’s mindful other's scarlet and sulfur mixed drinks

Who’s up next
You will be part of me and all I am doing