Copyright, Shmopyright

The Water Cooler

They're poisoning the atmosphere
now you and I've split
because they're trying to get something clear.
The mistletoe puts up its mitts

now you and I've split.
The black oaks jostle
and the mistletoe puts up its mitts
to vie for the sweet-throated throstle

where the black oaks jostle
over a back fence
and vie for the sweet-throated throstle,
seeming no less tense

over a back fence
than the chestnuts dishing the dirt,
seeming no less tense
than so many introverts,

than the chestnuts dishing the dirt
down by the water cooler.
Like so many introverts,
like all the other carpoolers

down by the water cooler,
they cough up their lungs.
Like all those other carpoolers,
the maples wag their tongues

and cough up their lungs
because they're trying to get something clear.
The maples wag their tongues.
They're poisoning the atmosphere.

-Paul Muldoon