Conspiracy Theory
that somehow the author
a hundred years ago
knew enough about the future
to know font sizes
and html
and that his words about the emdash
would appear on page 151
Yes, yes, yes,
proof
the president of your mind's
stormy eye
was right about everything.
Some special winner
went back in time
and crushed the butterfly
before it flapped its wings
and made a typhoon
that would take out the northern fleet.
In the fractal god's eye
(another storm
if you really think about it)
someone is assigned the aleph
of answers
to fever questions
that break on the red twilight
and whispers the old truth
"sailors be gone."
Conspiracy Theory 2
You don't need to listen
to Succubus radio's
nightly transmissions to know
the secret Rosetta stone
of would be masters
who know everyone listens
to your phone calls
but no one pays
attention to a broadcast.
Every other night a single word
or phrase
is emphasized for the mind-
controllers—an entire show
with government-sponsored scientists
talking about dark matter
followed by a show featuring jazz.
You have to listen to the cues
to know which next station
to tune into.
This is how you stay
sublime
as a chameleon
in a fractal jungle of fears.
See: there are the fractals again
on page 151
of a different book.
J. P. Dancing Bear is editor of Verse Daily. He is the author of sixteen collections of poetry, most recently, Of Oracles and Monsters (Glass Lyre Press, 2020), and Fish Singing Foxes (Salmon Poetry, 2019). His work has appeared American Literary Review, Crazyhorse, the DIAGRAM and elsewhere.